President likens Syrian refugees to pilgrims on Mayflower in Thanksgiving address

“What makes America America is that we offer that chance”, President Obama said in his Thanksgiving address.

The Obama administration has told governors they do not have the legal authority to refuse to accept Syrian refugees as it was revealed that 680,000 immigrants from Muslim countries have come to the U.S.in the last five years.

“While the United States has the most generous refugee system in the world, the American people are rightly concerned about admitting Syrian refugees and the impact it would have on the safety of their families and neighbors”, Goodlatte said.

The House of Representatives passed a bill to suspend the refugee plan and intensify refugee screening measures before lawmakers left Washington for the Thanksgiving break.

President Obama on the other hand said that the highest security checks are already in place through which each refugee must pass before they are allowed to set foot on American soil.

Thanksgiving Day in the U.S. is traced to a feast in 1621 by the Pilgrims in which they gave their appreciation to god for their first successful harvest in the New World.

Democratic Gov. Peter Shumlin, who is not seeking re-election next year, has said the vetting process of Syrian refugees is thorough and Vermont would welcome Syrian refugees.

Obama’s determination to accept 10,000 Syrian refugees has garnered much political criticism from the right wing, especially in light of the recent terror attacks. The governors, mostly Republican, have pressed for bans in their states since it emerged one of the Paris attackers may have entered Europe with migrants. “That was the case before Paris, and it’s the case now”, he said.

There are no Syrian refugees in Vermont, but a small number is expected.

The Obama administration is working to stem the backlash against their plans to resettle Syrian refugees in the United States.

“Terrorists have made it clear that they intend to infiltrate this refugee population to reach the West and carry out other attacks”, Ryan wrote this week in an op-ed for CNN.

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.

For now, both debates remain in limbo; the Senate will deal with the House’s bill after legislators return from the current recess, and the president’s executive action is stuck in the courts. “The notion you would put on pause the that we would welcome refugees fleeing the violence is not true to who we are as a country and it is also not true to who we are as a city”, Emanuel said.