President Barack Obama has warned state governors that he will take enforcement action against them if they turn away Syrian refugees.
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More than half of the nation’s governors have pledged not to allow Syrian refugees into their states following the wave of terror attacks that hit Paris earlier in the month, which left 130 dead and hundreds more injured.
“On the Statue of Liberty, a gift from the people of France, there are words we know so well: “Give me your exhausted, your poor, your huddled masses, yearning to breathe free.’ That’s the spirit that makes America”, Obama said”.
Obama’s warning, which came in a letter from the Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR) signed by director Robert Carey, sets the stage for a Tenth Amendment showdown, pitting the states against the federal government. “Wyoming does not have a refugee resettlement program”.
He went on to quote from letters he received from two women who said they wanted to welcome the refugees – including one from Florida who can trace her family back to the Mayflower, and “said that welcoming others is part of ‘what it means to be an American'”.
The Muslim countries of the Gulf Cooperation Council that include Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and United Arab Emirates steadfastly refuse to accept any Syrian refugees.
The ORR letter attempted to assure concerned governors by stating that all refugees will be subject to the “highest level” of security checks, which would involve a “multi-layered and intensive screening and vetting process”.
Syrian refugees trying to escape the monstrous evil of ISIS have become the latest casualty in America’s toxic political debate.
The letter echoes prior rhetoric by the Obama administration, which has said states have more of a “consultative role”. “We work with them in picking up a refugee family at the airport, or providing them with a meal, or even inviting a family [to join them] for the holidays”.
Over the next year, Obama plans to resettle 10,000 Syrian refugees who are fleeing Islamic extremists fighting in the five-year-long Syrian civil war, which has largely been fueled by the involvement of the United States and its allies who are aiding the rebels trying to overthrow the Syrian government.
More than 30 state governors have indicated they will attempt to block any future refugees from settling in their states.
The legislation would mandate the top security executives – Federal Bureau of Investigation director, the Department of Homeland Security director, and the director of national intelligence – to make sure that US has no security risk from refugees who will be admitted.
Last week’s vote by the House of Representatives to impose additional restrictions on the admission of Syrian refugees into the United States was a bad idea.
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The White House recently posted a graphic timeline of the refugee screening process.
