Accountability with Syrian, Iraqi refugees

Those are the principles on which America was founded and that are forever inscribed on the Statue of Liberty. Those concerns also have prompted Capitol Hill lawmakers to push for legislation that would place new hurdles in the way of accepting Syrian refugees.

Nadia Alawa, the founder of NuDay Syria, a non-profit that helps Syrian mothers and children who remain in the country and in camps in Turkey, says Baker deserves some credit for that.

NOW: Last week, Graham said Syrian refugees shouldn’t be accepted into us borders for the time being.

The World-Herald obtained a copy of that letter, in which the two secretaries noted that additional precautions have been added for the screenings of Syrian refugees and that they continually evaluate whether precautions should be further enhanced.

But Lavinia Limon, president and CEO of the U.S. Committee for Refugees and Immigration, has the Associated Press that under the Refugee Act of 1980, governors can not legally block refugees.

We harbor no illusions that our refugee screening system is foolproof.

Gov. Cuomo made similar remarks Tuesday in a student question-and-answer session at Harvard University, where he said he supports the continued admission of Syrian refugees into NY and the country.

A rising backlash against Syrian refugees has been reflected in Congress, in rhetoric from GOP presidential candidates, and in public opinion polls after reports that one of the terrorists in the Paris attacks that killed 130 crossed into Europe alongside Syrians fleeing terror in their country.

Refugees applying for entry into the United States, on the other hand, go through a multi-layered screening process that includes fingerprinting, extensive in-person interviews, checks against terrorist watch lists and other criminal databases, verification of documents and aspects of the refugee’s history, he said.

Only a “very small proportion” of the refugees the United States accepts are unaccompanied adult males – usually survivors of torture, LGBT individuals, or those with disabilities, according to the letter.

I, for one, would love to see a debate between Obama and Cruz on just about any issue from the Constitution to the refugee crisis, but Obama wouldn’t take that risk.

The proper response to fear, however, is prudence, rather than panic.

Former Secretary of State Madeline Albright – who left Czechoslovakia with her family after the Communist Party took over the country in 1948 – criticized recent congressional action to try to stop Syrian and Iraqi refugees from entering the country, saying it punished “an extremely vulnerable population of people who have been victimized bydictators and terrorists”. For us to turn back now… on refugees, is turning our back on who we are. If Tipton was true to both his American and religious values, he would use his elected position to advocate for human rights across the globe and work to embrace and offer sanctuary to those refugees who need it most.

The letter also states, “If the expert screener fails to be satisfied, the applicant will not be resettled in the U.S”.

NOW: Rubio now says the nation can’t adequately check the background of a Syrian refugee.

Governors of more than half the states said this week they did not want to accept Syrian refugees.