In the wake of the deadly terror attacks in Paris that are linked to Islamic State extremists the Governors across the country wants to close their states to resettled Syrian refugees.
When the President Obama stated that it hopes to resettle at least 10,000 Syrian refugees, more than 180 cities and towns and have have expressed willingness to that he would continue to accept refugees and denounced efforts to stop those fleeing violence from coming to the United States as “shameful.”
The list of states climbed quickly to 23 by Monday evening.The Governors said that they want to stop the relocation of new Syrian refugees to their states as they fear of the violence in there country. Governors of Illinois, Ohio, Florida, North Carolina, South Carolina, Maine, Iowa, Oklahoma, Wisconsin, New Jersey, New Hampshire, Arizona, Indiana, Massachusetts, Idaho, Louisiana, Michigan, Alabama, Texas, Kansas, Georgia, Mississippi, and Arkansas and a majority of them Republican oppose the new entry of refugees.
William Hinkle, a spokesman for New Hampshire Gov. Maggie Hassan, said in a statement that
“The Governor has always made clear that we must ensure robust refugee screening to protect American citizens, and the Governor believes that the federal government should halt acceptance of refugees from Syria until intelligence and defense officials can assure that the process for vetting all refugees, including those from Syria, is as strong as possible to ensure the safety of the American people.”
A spokeswoman for the International Rescue Committee said.
“Governors and state officials do not have the capability to prevent a refugee who is here and admitted lawfully to the U.S. from residing in their state. It is not something they can do.” She added
“There is a close collaboration with governors and mayors and community leaders about the capacity of the area for refugees and where they can go, but once they have legal status, you cannot impede their transit between different states.”
The Ohio Gov. John Kasich wrote to Obama asking him to stop sending refugees to his state, suggesting that he does not have the power to unilaterally halt the process himself.
Obama responded in G-20 summit in Turkey by saying that. “The United States has to step up and do its part.” He said “And when I hear folks say that, well, maybe we should just admit the Christians but not the Muslims, when I hear political leaders suggesting that there would be a religious test for which person who’s fleeing from a war-torn country is admitted, when some of those folks themselves come from families who benefited from protection when they were fleeing political persecution, that’s shameful.” He added.”That’s not American, it’s not who we are.”