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News: Governors want Syrian refugees banned or refused from states
Member Since: 8/19/2013
Posts: 33,614
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Governors want Syrian refugees banned or refused from states
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Several U.S. governors are threatening to halt efforts to allow Syrian refugees into their states in the aftermath of the coordinated attacks in Paris, though an immigration expert says they have no legal authority to do so.
The governors are responding to heightened concerns that terrorists might use the refugees as cover to sneak across borders. Authorities said a Syrian passport was found near one of the attackers, and the Paris prosecutors' office says fingerprints from the attacker match those of someone who passed through Greece in October.
Millions of Syrians have fled to neighboring Middle Eastern countries and Europe, and President Barack Obama's administration has pledged to accept about 10,000 Syrian refugees in the next 12 months. The U.S. State Department said the refugees would be spread across the country. Republican presidential candidates have criticized the plan.
In response to the calls from governors to prevent Syrian refugees from coming to their states, Lavinia Limon, president and CEO of the U.S Committee for Refugees and Immigration, said under the Refugee Act of 1980 governors cannot legally block refugees from settling in their communities.
ALABAMA
Republican Gov. Robert Bentley announced Sunday that he would refuse Syrian refugees relocating to the state, saying: "I will not stand complicit to a policy that places the citizens of Alabama in harm's way." Bentley's news release said the Alabama Law Enforcement Agency was diligently working with federal officials to monitor any possible threats. There has been no credible intelligence of terror threats in Alabama so far, according to the governor's office.
ARKANSAS
Republican Gov. Asa Hutchinson says he opposes Syrian refugees being relocated to Arkansas. Hutchinson, a former undersecretary of the federal Department of Homeland Security, said he doesn't believe the United States should be a permanent place of relocation for the refugees and that he thinks Europe, Asia or Africa are logically the best places for resettlement or temporary asylum.
CONNECTICUT
Gov. Dannel P. Malloy says Connecticut will continue to accept refugees from Syria. The Democrat told NBC Connecticut on Monday the state is committed to accepting the refugees and believes background checks could easily be performed and his spokesman, Devon Puglia, said the administration is continuing to work with federal officials and await guidance as "they develop procedures following the tragedy in Paris."
FLORIDA
Gov. Rick Scott is calling on Congress to block attempts by the Obama administration to relocate 425 Syrian refugees to Florida. The Republican governor on Monday wrote a letter to congressional leaders that asked them to take "immediate and aggressive action" to prevent the relocation of Syrian refugees without an "extensive evaluation" of the risk the refugees may pose to national security.
ILLINOIS
Gov. Bruce Rauner joined the growing list of Republican governors who announced they want to prevent Syrian refugees from relocating in their states. In a statement issued Monday, Rauner said the state will "temporarily suspend accepting new Syrian refugees and consider all of our legal options pending a full review of the process by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security."
IOWA
Saying he wants to protect residents of his state in the wake of terrorist attacks in Paris, Gov. Terry Branstad acknowledged that governors might not be have the legal authority to prevent the Syrian refugees from relocating to their states because "this is a federal program." Still, the Republican said he wants more information from the federal government about where people are being placed and the vetting process.
INDIANA
Republican Gov. Mike Pence announced Monday that he was ordering state agencies to suspend the relocation of any more Syrian refugees to the state until he received assurances from the federal government that proper security measures had been taken.
LOUISIANA
Gov. Bobby Jindal — a GOP presidential contender — said he wants more information from the White House "in hopes that the night of horror in Paris is not duplicated here." Jindal sent a letter to the White House on Saturday, demanding to know how many Syrian refugees have been resettled in his state. He also wants to know the extent of background screening before Syrians entered the U.S. United States as well as what monitoring would be done once the refugees make it to Louisiana.
MAINE
Gov. Paul LePage said it is "irresponsible" to allow Syrian refugees into the country in the wake of the terrorist attacks in Paris. The Republican governor, who said he does "not know for certain" if Maine has any Syrian refugees right now, plans to point out in a radio address on Monday that one of his first actions as governor was to prevent Maine from serving as a "sanctuary state" for people living in the country without legal permission.
MASSACHUSETTS
Gov. Charlie Baker says he's opposed to allowing more Syrian refugees into Massachusetts in the aftermath of the terrorist attacks in Paris and that he wants to know much more about the federal government's vetting process before allowing them into the state. Democratic Boston Mayor also says he wants to know about how the federal government screens refugees.
MICHIGAN
Gov. Rick Snyder had bucked many fellow Republican leaders by welcoming refugees to Michigan, which has a large Arab-American population. But he said Sunday that the state is postponing efforts to accept refugees until federal officials fully review security procedures and clearances. Snyder said that while he is proud of the state's history of immigration, its "first priority is protecting the safety of our residents."
MISSISSIPPI
Gov. Phil Bryant said Monday that he's trying to find out if there are any plans by the federal government to relocate any Syrian refugees in the state and if there are the Republican said he will "do everything humanly possible" to stop it.
PENNSYLVANIA
Gov. Tom Wolf said his administration will keep working with the federal government to properly screen and resettle Syrian refugees in the state. The Democrat said Monday that the federal government thinks it can handle an additional 10,000 refugees that the White House said in September that it would accept from Syria.
TEXAS
Gov. Greg Abbott on Monday ordered Texas' refugee resettlement program not to accept any more Syrians in the wake of the Paris terrorist attacks. In a letter to Obama, the Republican also urged scrapping federal plans to accept more Syrian refugees into the country as a whole. He said the federal government can't perform "proper security checks" on Syrians.
WISCONSIN
Gov. Scott Walker said in September that the United States should not take in any more refugees from Syria and now, in the wake of the terrorist attack in Paris, Republican leaders of the Wisconsin state Assembly are saying the same thing. They're circulating a letter they plan to send to President Barack Obama's administration saying they don't want any Syrian refugees.
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http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/g...ugees-35232854
So disgusting 
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ATRL Contributor
Member Since: 8/19/2013
Posts: 43,104
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Hasn't the FBI said multiple times that they have it under control? I know in New Orleans where refugees were arriving the police and FBI were like "it's fine" 
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Member Since: 8/18/2013
Posts: 10,270
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There is no excuse for this disgusting behaviour. How many did they even accept? 10k?
This is why I'm happy to be German. We accepted nearly 1 million refugees this year and of course there was backflash but also huge support from the people. The US is just something else man.
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Member Since: 6/25/2011
Posts: 28,853
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Not surprising. It's going to get worse.
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Member Since: 8/17/2013
Posts: 21,866
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Y'all should see the mess of the comments
Anyway, this just doesn't really make sense to me. Yeah, there could be terrorists embedded in the refugees, but that's not just going to magically eliminate the issue of terrorists coming into the country..
edit: Yeah I see the reasoning behind it, it just sucks because the innocent refugees lose at the end.
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Member Since: 1/1/2014
Posts: 5,133
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I'm surprised to see some of the more progressive states like Maine, Connecticut and Pensilvania
But Islam religion's reputation in the western world is damaged beyond repair. I don't know what the Muslims can do to turn things around
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Member Since: 3/15/2013
Posts: 10,237
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Times are hard and it's not the same as it was years ago where it was easy too help people. It's too dangerous and not safe to take chances. Especially America.
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Member Since: 1/1/2014
Posts: 5,133
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Quote:
Originally posted by TheSoneNavy
Times are hard and it's not the same as it was years ago where it was easy too help people. It's too dangerous and not safe to take chances. Especially America.
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I agree.
I wish we could help them but then again I can see their point, and the safety of American citizens should be first.
Why doesn't Dubai or Qatar and many of the wealthy ME countries take them in?
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Member Since: 8/17/2013
Posts: 19,066
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Quote:
Originally posted by ClarksonSlays
Hasn't the FBI said multiple times that they have it under control? I know in New Orleans where refugees were arriving the police and FBI were like "it's fine" |
No, I don't think so. To he contrary, several govt officials said there wasn't an adequate vetting process.
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Member Since: 9/17/2011
Posts: 13,150
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Easy for them to do this when masses and masses of these migrants are not right at their borders
Europe is pretty much ****ed
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Member Since: 6/15/2012
Posts: 4,586
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Of course the majority are innocent people looking for a safer place,but it could be very convenient for some terrorists.
I support Governors decision.
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Member Since: 9/25/2011
Posts: 2,394
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Fully support this. No Syrians, no thanks.
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ATRL Contributor
Member Since: 8/19/2013
Posts: 43,104
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Quote:
Originally posted by BlueTimberwolf
No, I don't think so. To he contrary, several govt officials said there wasn't an adequate vetting process.
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Whoops 
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Member Since: 8/6/2012
Posts: 8,639
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Quote:
Originally posted by Matangi
There is no excuse for this disgusting behaviour. How many did they even accept? 10k?
This is why I'm happy to be German. We accepted nearly 1 million refugees this year and of course there was backflash but also huge support from the people. The US is just something else man.
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Germans will probably change their tune when what happened in Paris comes to the streets of Berlin and Munich. It was a wonderful and noble value to open your doors to people displaced by conflict... however when the choice is between offering shelter and protecting your own people, there is only one option.
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Member Since: 8/6/2012
Posts: 8,639
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Of course the world wouldn't have this crisis if the wealthy Arab nations had done anything to help their neighbors. Of course only Europe and the US gets slammed after accepting millions.
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Member Since: 3/18/2012
Posts: 15,751
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We don't want them tbh sorry. Taking this risky of a chance is no bueno so I applaud their choices.
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Member Since: 1/16/2011
Posts: 24,638
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This is so stupid. As if this retroactive bs is going to prevent anything. If there's a will there's a way with ISIS. So they might as well help as many innocent Syrians as they can.
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Member Since: 8/19/2013
Posts: 33,614
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Quote:
Originally posted by retromaury
I'm surprised to see some of the more progressive states like Maine, Connecticut and Pensilvania
But Islam religion's reputation in the western world is damaged beyond repair. I don't know what the Muslims can do to turn things around
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Actually, Connecticut and Pennsylvania are still all for refugees as the article said. Maine has a Republican governor, so I'm not surprised
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Member Since: 3/5/2011
Posts: 15,589
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This is actually the most sane/rational decision they could make at this time.
A huge chunk of the Paris attackers masqueraded as Syrian refugees, so who's to say they won't do the same here? Yall need to stop trying to look 'progressive' and look @ the facts here.
The govt's job is to protect American citizens first and foremost.
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Member Since: 8/19/2013
Posts: 33,614
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Quote:
Originally posted by Damien M
This is actually the most sane/rational decision they could make at this time.
A huge chunk of the Paris attackers masqueraded as Syrian refugees, so who's to say they won't do the same here? Yall need to stop trying to look 'progressive' and look @ the facts here.
The govt's job is to protect American citizens first and foremost.
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Yes, but what about the countless upon countless Syrian refugees who are innocent? They shouldn't be screwed over because of situation that had nothing to do with them but everything to do with where they're from? I hope there's a way to properly vet people
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