Will terrorists come into US as refugees?

As the number of immigrants dislocated by the war in Syria grows in Europe, pressure is increasing on the United States to share the burden of resettling refugees from the war pouring into Europe.

Simon Henshaw, principal deputy assistant secretary of state for the U.S. State Department’s population, refugees and migration bureau, joined Morning Edition to explain more about the vetting process, as well as the relationship between the federal government and MA in the current resettlement system. Concern was fueled by one of the terrorists involved in the deadly attacks on Paris who was believed to have entered the country via the refugee program. Syrians are subject to “the most robust screening process for any category of individuals seeking admissions into the United States”, Carey said in the letter.

Appearing before the House Judiciary Committee last week for several hearings, Obama administration officials doubled down on defending the President’s Syrian refugee resettlement plan.

The organisation worked with 892 refugees in IN in 2015 and was supposed to receive 890 refugees in 2016 including 215 from North East and South Asia including Syrian refugees. According to the State Department, the refugees would be spread across the country.

“The Health and Human Services Commission will continue to follow the directive of Gov. [Greg] Abbott, which calls for the state of Texas to not participate in the resettlement of Syrian refugees”, Bryan Black said. By a 54%-43% margin, respondents oppose taking in Syrian refugees even “after screen them for security”. This shows a lack of understanding for the intense screening that every refugee to the USA must undergo.

A few days later in Malaysia, where Islam is the official state religion, Obama said that a preference for Christian refugees would constitute “prejudice and discrimination” that “helps ISIL and undermines our national security”.

“We are horrified and heartbroken by the terrorist atrocities in Paris, but must not forget that there are thousands more victims of these same terrorists who are fleeing Syria with their families and desperately need some place to go”.

“What happens when the United States fails to provide leadership in the world is bad things and more disruptive things fill that leadership vacuum”, says Blunt.

In addition, the Republican bill would entirely shut down the refugee process by imposing unworkable certification requirements on the refugee vetting process. For example, the screening process for refugees usually takes two years and involves many government agencies, including the National Counterterrorism Center.

Since October 2013, only about 2,100 Syrian refugees have been admitted to the United States; and 98 to the state of Florida. However, the refugee question has also become a political battle; nearly all of the governors calling for a halt to Syrian immigration are Republicans, while the Democratic administration of President Obama defends the USA refugee system as safe.

Abbott, who said Texas “will not accept any refugees from Syria, ” has pointed to federal law that stresses “close cooperation” between states and the feds.

Federal immigration authorities also track refugees and conduct more background checks when they arrive in the USA, the letter said. “Some Members of Congress have even introduced legislation that would stop refugee resettlement altogether”.

America should be a haven for this wave of Syrian refugees as it has for other recent groups, like the Vietnamese.