State Department Stands Behind Refugee Program

The letter, which came from the office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR) stated that state resettlement officials must not deny services and benefits to refugees (who meet eligibility requirements) based on their religion or country of origin and failure to do so could result in enforcement action which could either be suspension or termination.

The letter is signed by the director of the federal resettlement office, Robert Carey.

More than half of the nation’s governors have pledged not to allow Syrian refugees into their states following the wave of terror attacks that hit Paris earlier in the month, which left 130 dead and hundreds more injured. “We’re waiting to hear what that is, but we feel good about it”, she said. 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.

On Thanksgiving Day, Obama addressed the nation and took the opportunity to remind Americans of their own blessings and to welcome refugees, ABC News reports.

“The Health and Human Services Commission will continue to follow the directive of Gov. Abbott, which calls for the State of Texas to not participate in the resettlement of Syrian Refuges”, said the spokesman, Bryan Black.

The Obama administration counters that the vetting process is thorough and can take up to two years. Obama stressed in that warnings in that refugees would pose a danger are overblown since people getting in to the country are completely screened. Governors of both parties have also vowed to turn back Syrian refugees. Every time we get a new population of refugees coming into the United States, we change it a little so that it’s better for that population.

Comparing the plight of Syrian refugees to the pilgrims who celebrated the first Thanksgiving in 1621, President Obama made a holiday plea Thursday for Americans to accept the migrants with open arms. The candidates and their supporters say Syrian Christians are fleeing not just a civil war but also an Islamic State genocide campaign against the Christian faith. “Second, they run contrary to American values, and third, they would do nothing to strengthen our security”.

The House passed a bill that would have withheld Justice Department grant money from sanctuary cities and states, but Senate Democrats launched a filibuster to halt it. Mr. Obama threatened to veto the legislation anyway, saying it was bad policy to withhold money.

The meeting called by Moulton is meant to assuage the public’s concerns about the security risks of admitting Syrian refugees by educating people about the conditions refugees are fleeing and the vetting process they go through.