As European countries tighten up their security systems, nearly half of the 50 US states have decided to shut their doors on Syrian refugees following the Paris attacks. Greg Abbot,governor of Texas in a letter to President Barack Obama said, “given the tragic attacks in Paris and the threats we have already seen, Texas cannot participate in any program that will result in Syrian refugees—any one of whom could be connected to terrorism-being resettled in Texas,” In the same vein, Phil Bryant, governor of Mississippi stressed that he will do everything humanly possible to stop any plans from the Obama administration” to put Syrian refugees in Mississippi. Obama’s policy of welcoming such individuals “is not only misguided, it is extremely dangerous,” he said.
Obama is facing a barrage of pressure from at least 22 Republican-led states, presidential candidates, key members of Congress, and in one case a Democratic governor to suspend a program to resettle 10,000 Syrian refugees on US soil in 2016, citing security fears and following the Paris attacks. Several Republican presidential hopefuls including Donald Trump, Jeb Bush and Marco Rubio said outright that America must not take in Syrian refugees because they might include Islamic State,IS militants. Some the states include Arizona, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Louisiana, Maine, Massachusetts, Mississippi, Nebraska, North Carolina, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas and Wisconsin. Even Maggie Hassan, a Democrat governor of New Hampshire governor has backed them. The discovery of a Syrian passport near the body of one Paris assailant has revived Europe’s debate on how hard a line to take on the record migrant influx.
However, the State Department said it will take the governors’ concerns seriously, and will look into “whether they can legally” block federal resettlement efforts in their states. Congress faces a December 11 deadline for finalizing 2016 spending, and some Republicans want to insert language that blocks federal funding for refugee plans.
Obama had in September, announced plans to take in 10,000 Syrian refugees by September 2016. The White House stressed the plan carries little risk because there is a “robust” vetting process in place
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