Obama: Syrian Refugees Are Like Pilgrims on the Mayflower

“We’re seeing a high number of cases that are burn victims, lost limbs, shrapnel injuries needing operations”, she said. “Based on that, we’re very comfortable receiving these families, which by the way, are mostly women and children”, Canny said.

One woman from Pennsylvania wrote to me to say, Money is tight for us in my household.

Reuters reports Americans now view terrorism as the country’s most significant problem, according to recent polls. But with the Federal Bureau of Investigation saying they can’t vet all Syrian refugees completely, and evidence that some refugees are, in fact, radicalized jihadists, the president’s assurances ring hollow.

The Syrian American Council has been holding news conferences in USA cities such as Phoenix, Arizona and Annapolis, Maryland in the past week to try to change those perceptions. 30 state governors have protested the resettling of refugees.

Hogan’s office has not commented on the matter. Why are those wealthy states, which do seem to share a common language and heritage, not helping to grant asylum to the Syrian people who have been trying for the last five years to escape the terror of Islamic State militants and dodging chemical weapons being used in an ongoing civil war? One of those groups is World Relief, the humanitarian arm of the National Association of Evangelicals.

They were among about 1,500 migrants who have been stranded near Greece’s northern border town of Idomeni after Europe made a decision to filter migrants, allowing only those fleeing conflict in Syria, Afghanistan and Iraq to cross into the Balkans. According to the International Refugee Assistance Project, those Iraqi translators are among the 58,000 or more Iraqis who worked with the U.S. They are still awaiting for visa processing.

Particularly concerning to many was the call by some lawmakers to admit Christian but not Muslim refugees. “They’ve got refugees coming in and they’re going to be receiving medical”, he said.

In his radio address the president said that the world still has many pilgrims, even after the Mayflower sailed to the America about four hundred years ago. Several individuals in attendance also expressed concerns over the use of state funds for refugee resettlement instead of other social services.

Howard Brown, of North Kingstown, R.I.

Burden or benefit to society? The Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR) sent the letter to state resettlement officials stating that states can’t deny benefits and services to the refugees. In 2014, MRS resettled 20,875 refugees from around the world in the U.S. It is the largest nongovernmental resettlement agency in the world.

FILE – Supporters place a sign welcoming Syrian refugees is placed at the entrance to the office of the Arizona governor during a rally at the Arizona Capitol in Phoenix, Nov. 17, 2015. President Obama has promised to veto the bill, which is expected to go to vote in the Senate shortly after Thanksgiving, though with overwhelmingly bipartisan support, it is possible the House could override a veto to pass the bill into law.

Others were concerned about a potential backlash against Syrian refugees in the U.S. as well.