Texas Can’t Block Syrian Refugees

Overall, more than 4 million Syrian refugees have fled their homeland since the Syrian civil war began in March 2011. Many republicans have argued that since the Paris attacks, all Syrian immigrants should be banned from the US. Six of these are faith-based and the faith-based organizations play a large role in resettling refugees in the United States. We must, however, strengthen the integrity of the security screening process before proceeding with resettlement to ensure that Nebraska remains a safe place to live, work, and raise a family for generations to come. Donald Trump has been exaggerating the numbers: President Obama’s initial plan was to take in 10,000 refugees this upcoming year, but Trump has consistently been saying President Obama wants to take in 250,000. Reps. Gregg Harper, Trent Kelly and Steven Palazzo voted for a House bill last Thursday that would block Syrian refugees from coming to the United States until they undergo a more stringent vetting process.

“What happens when the United States fails to provide leadership in the world is bad things and more disruptive things fill that leadership vacuum”, says Blunt.

The Roman Catholic bishops of Texas said Wednesday that Catholic refugee agencies will not comply with a state directive that they stop resettling Syrians in Texas, even as state officials warned at least one local agency that failure to comply could result in being terminated from the state’s resettlement program. It is all too simple for ISIS sympathizers to enter this country while posing as refugees just as they did in France.

Following the lawsuit, Pence’s spokesperson Kara Brooks stated that, “The governor is confident he has the authority to suspend the state’s participation in the resettlement of Syrian refugees in IN and will not reverse course until the Administration and Congress take action to pause this programme and implement measures necessary to address security gaps acknowledged by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and Department of Homeland Security”.

“Singling out Muslims or Syrians – the very victims of ISIS’s reign of terror – or suggesting that American values apply to them only with caveats, gives ISIS a propaganda tool it can use to recruit more foot soldiers”, Moulton wrote in the Globe. In the wake of the November 13 terrorist attacks in Paris, the governors and some lawmakers have cited concerns the refugees may include Islamic radicals. We can turn them away and say someone else needs to take care of them, but to me, that goes against everything this country was built upon.

After all databases are checked and everything is cleared, every refugee over the age of 14 is interviewed by highly trained officials within the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. But when legitimate refugee status can be reliably established, the US should do its share to help alleviate the suffering.

It can be easy to think that all this has nothing to do with us.

We’re a compassionate nation, but our first responsibility is to protect our citizens.