The White House said Monday it will tell Gov. Chris Christie and other governors how many Syrian refugees are settling in their states.
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White House Chief of Staff Denis McDonough said in letters to Cuomo and other governors that the administration will provide them with “a tailored report” each month on refugees resettled in their states, if they request it.
In his letter to the International Rescue Committee, Traylor wrote: “Failure by your organization to cooperate with the State of Texas as required by federal law may result in the termination of your contract with the state and other legal action”.
“The proposal responds to governors’ input”, McDonough wrote, “while protecting the privacy of refugee families”.
Before entering the USA, refugees are vetted by the National Counterterrorism Center, the FBI’s Terrorist Screening Center and the departments of State, Defense and Homeland Security.
In the wake of the terrorist attacks in Paris on 13 November, Texas’s Republican governor, Greg Abbott, was among the first of more than 30 governors to oppose Syrians fleeing violence moving to their states, on the basis that they could be security threats and that the vetting process was inadequate. Rosenthal says that this type of letter could be sent to any refugee resettlement group in the state that takes a similar public position. The bill, now before the US Senate, creates almost insurmountable procedural obstacles for resettling refugees from Syria and Iraq in the US, Human Rights Watch said.
The U.S. House has passed legislation that would effectively halt the nation’s refugee resettlement efforts for Syrian and Iraqi refugees but Obama has said he would veto the measure if it passed the Senate.
The report would include age range, gender and nationality, but not names.
Abbott, a Republican, is concerned that US security screening is ineffective and could allow in people with ties to terrorism, the letter said, giving the group until Monday to reply. She said it was the “compassionate and humane” act to accept Syrian refugees. In addition, every applicant undergoes in-person interviews, has a check against the fingerprint databases of both the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Defense Department and is subjected to what the State Department calls the highest level of security screening.
According to CNN, 31 states have said they will not accept Syrian refugees out of fear following the terrorist attacks in Paris, even though all of the identified attackers were European nationals (one was found with a fake Syrian passport). Authorities in Washington, D.C., say resettlement programs are federally funded and involve volunteer and private organizations – meaning states can’t dictate policy. The most recent State Department data available indicates of the 2,225 Syrians resettled in the US, 211 came to MI, trailing only California (243) and Texas (236).
“Rather than briefing state officials on the background vetting information compiled by the intelligence community prior to resettlement, the White House wants to provided limited information after resettlement has already occurred”. President Obama plans to admit at least 10,000 Syrian refugees next year. Howard Brown, of North Kingstown, R.I. The United States has always offered that chance to immigrants and refugees, and will continue to do so.
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So how much does it actually cost to resettle refugees?
