New US bill for stricter vetting of refugees

“These refugees are fleeing terror themselves-violence like we have witnessed in Paris”, said Seattle Auxiliary Bishop Eusebio Elizondo, chairman of the migration committee.

House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-California, dismissed shutdown talk on a series of potentially contentious issues from refugee resettlement to federal funding for Planned Parenthood.

After the November 13 terrorist attacks on Paris killed at least 130, Kasich and about two dozen other governors asked that no more Syrian refugees be resettled in their states until better screening can be assured.

The letter, signed by head of the state’s Health and Human Services Commission Chris Traylor, claims the International Rescue Committee branch in Dallas is in violation of federal law for failing to “cooperate” with Texas because it “insists on resettling certain refugees from Syria in the near future”, even after Governor Greg Abbott vowed to block Syrian refugees from entering Texas.

About 75 Syrians this year have settled in New Jersey, according to the State Department.

In a letter sent Monday to Brown and other governors, White House Chief of Staff Denis McDonough said the refugee vetting process is “extraordinarily thorough and comprehensive”.

Last year, more than 7,000 people came to Texas for refugee resettlement but they weren’t just from Syria.

Conventional wisdom among some politicians has it that taking in refugees is a financial burden to the United States. Does it seem insane to people in the middle to stop the flow of Syrian refugees to this country?

Albright, who was 11 years old when she and her family arrived in the US after fleeing the Nazis in Czechoslovakia 67 years ago, said closing off America to refugees is contrary to American values.

The Office of Refugee Resettlement said in a letter to state resettlement officials that states may not deny benefits and services to refugees based on a refugee’s country of origin or religious affiliation. Rosenthal says that this type of letter could be sent to any refugee resettlement group in the state that takes a similar public position.

“The lack of reporting by volunteer organizations stands to further demonstrate my deep concern for the refugee vetting process”, Bentley said.

Before entering the USA, refugees are vetted by the National Counterterrorism Center, the FBI’s Terrorist Screening Center and the departments of State, Defense and Homeland Security.

The letter, however, was unlikely to satisfy other governors who, in several cases, suggested they would instruct key agencies and departments in their states not to work with the resettlement program or oppose them outright, though it was unclear what practical effect those instructions would have.

Applauding refugees in San Antonio, City Councilman Ron Nirenberg said, “I’ve gotten to experience the sense of optimism and hope that is strong in San Antonio’s refugee population”.

Roughly 2,200 Syrian refugees have been allowed in the USA over the last four years.

While the Obama White House and Congress may be on a collision course over refugees – before leaving for the Thanksgiving break the House passed a bill to make it harder for Iraqi and Syrians to get in the US – there may be more common ground when it comes to cracking down on visa waivers.

Basic information on refugees already is available from the federal government, but not their gender or ages.