Lawmakers want to pause refugee program in light of Paris attacks: Ryan

U.S. presidential candidate and GOP Senator Ted Cruz from Texas made a similar case, saying that “anyone with an ounce of common sense would say ‘no, we shouldn’t be bringing in tens of thousands of Syrian refugees‘”.

27 US governors say they do not want Syrian refugees accepted into their state.

Dayton said Republican governors opposing refugees is “showmanship” by governors “who have no expertise in the area”. Obama, traveling in Asia, on Tuesday called attempts to block entry “offensive and contrary to American values”. “And to the extent they don’t get through – then they won’t come into this country”, Kaine said. There is more intense screening for refugees from Syria, the officials said.

Ryan, less than three weeks in office as leader of the House Republicans, said he set up a task force to consider legislation “as quickly as possible” that would pause Obama’s Syrian refugee plan. The FBI also would be tasked with coming up with a way to conduct a “thorough background investigation” of refugees fleeing chaos and horror.

“Given the lives at stake and the critical importance to our partners in the Middle East and Europe of American leadership in addressing the Syrian refugee crisis”, the statement says, the president would veto the bill. “And you say you are less anxious about Syrian refugees than other refugees?”

The Obama administration announced earlier this year that the number of people invited to move to the U.S.as refugees would be increased to 85,000 in the coming year, including about 10,000 Syrians. The new bill would add a requirement for the heads of the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Homeland Security Department, along with the Director of National Intelligence, to certify that each refugee being admitted would not pose a security threat. Our first and only commitment is to protect our citizens, and if there is even the smallest chance a jihadist can be resettled in New Jersey, we should block all Syrian refugees. “I want to be a computer scientist”, he said.

“That’s not in this bill”, said McCaul, referencing a bill he introduced to pause and bolster the vetting process for refugees.

Obama Monday said the USA has to “step up and do its part” in relation to the war that has sent Syrians fleeing their war-torn nation. The U.S.is already selective, usually considering for resettlement only refugees deemed “vulnerable”, such as widows, unaccompanied children or political enemies of the Bashar al-Assad regime.