Dubbing the Pilgrims the country’s first refugees, President Obama used his weekly radio address Thursday to chide his fellow Americans for their reluctance to accept Syrian refugees and to insist that the US has a duty to accept them and other immigrants.
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The official figures were released as the Office of Refugee Resettlement told resettlement officials that states can not deny benefits and services to refugees based on their nationality or religion, meaning Syrians can not be discriminated against.
The governors of more than 30 states, most but not all of the Republican, have said the refugees are not welcome there and that they will do all they an to oppose their settlement.
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott is prominent among the more than two dozen governors who have spent the past couple of days declaring they will not allow Syrian refugees to settle in their states. Local officials, including Mayor Ivy Taylor and Councilman Ron Nirenberg, said yesterday that San Antonio would welcome refugees, despite the rhetoric from some of the state’s other elected officials. Refugees are unwelcome by a number of US state governors. The House has passed a bill that would effectively ban Syrian refugees altogether despite the most stringent screening policies in the world.
His actions sparked a swift backlash and legal action from Republicans.
The president said the USA situation is different from that in Europe, where refugees arrive and then have to be sorted out.
The Obama administration is warning states that they can not refuse to accept refugees fleeing war-torn Syria, saying that noncompliant states may be subject to penalties.
Meanwhile, Obama said he is deeply touched by the generosity of those who have written to him to be opening up their homes for the refugees fleeing from the Islamic State.
We have the tightest system for any people entering the United States for refugees.
In September, President Obama announced plans to relocate 10,000 Syrian refugees in the coming fiscal year.
While the Obama administration states the current vetting process is already thorough, this bill requires comprehensive background checks for every Iraqi or Syrian refugee before they can come to the United States.
Syrian refugees have been entering the USA for several years with about 2,200 immigrating since 2011.
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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 USA has no security risk from refugees who will be admitted.
