Thread: House passes bill to bar Syrian refugees from U.S. without more vetting

House passes bill to bar Syrian refugees from U.S. without more vetting

Erin Kelly, USA TODAY
2:22 p.m. EST November 19, 2015

The White House labored Thursday to keep Democrats from joining a rebuke of President Barack Obama as House Republicans pushed legislation toward approval that would erect fresh hurdles for Syrian and Iraqi refugees trying to enter the U.S. (Nov. 19) AP


(Photo: Jacquelyn Martin, AP)

WASHINGTON — The House passed a bill Thursday to halt the admission of Syrian refugees into the U.S. until they undergo the toughest vetting process ever developed for people fleeing a war-torn nation.

The legislation, passed by a vote of 289-137, was rushed through in response to last week's terrorist attacks in Paris. One of the terrorists is believed to have entered Europe through Greece with a group of Syrian refugees, sparking calls by congressional leaders to "pause" the flow of refugees into the U.S. from Syria and Iraq.

Nearly 50 Democrats voted for the bill, while a handful of Republicans voted against it.

The bill requires the nation’s three top security officials — the Homeland Security secretary, FBI director and national intelligence director — to certify to Congress that each Syrian or Iraqi refugee is not a security threat before the refugee can be admitted into the U.S.

The White House has issued a veto threat, saying that the bill would create significant delays and obstacles for refugees without providing meaningful additional security for Americans. The legislation still must be voted on by the Senate, where Democratic leaders say they will move to block the bill.

USA TODAY White House threatens veto of House GOP bill on Syrian refugees

The bill's supporters said the legislation would help ensure that Islamic State terrorists will not slip into the U.S. along with refugees.

"We are a nation at war," said Homeland Security Chairman Michael McCaul, R-Texas, who introduced the bill with Rep. Richard Hudson, R-N.C. "The streets of Paris could just as easily have been the streets of New York, Chicago, Houston or Los Angeles ... We must take decisive action to show the American people that we are doing all we can to protect them."

Opponents of the bill said there already is a vigorous 18-month to 24-month vetting process for refugees. They argued that the bill's new requirements would effectively shut down the U.S. refugee resettlement program for Syrians.

"We face a choice that will echo through history," said Rep. Jerrold Nadler, D-N.Y., who reminded lawmakers that the U.S. turned away Jewish refugees fleeing Nazi Germany in 1939. "We must not let ourselves be guided by irrational fear."

President Obama plans to bring in up to 10,000 Syrian refugees over the next year. Roughly 11 million Syrians, almost half the nation's population, have fled their homes since the civil war broke out in 2011, and about 4 million have left their country.

The White House said that 2,174 Syrian refugees have been admitted to the United States since Sept. 11, 2001, and "not a single one has been arrested or deported on terrorism-related grounds."

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The current screening process for refugees is done by the the National Counterterrorism Center, the FBI and the departments of Homeland Security, State and Defense.

The background checks include fingerprinting, medical screenings and lengthy interviews of refugees before they enter the U.S.

"No refugee is approved for travel to the United States under the current system until the full array of required security vetting measures have been completed," said a White House statement issued Wednesday.

But Republicans pointed to recent congressional testimony from FBI Director James Comey acknowledging the challenges of trying to vet Syrian refugees.

Comey testified last month that it is difficult for U.S. officials to collect information on Syrians in the midst of that nation's civil war. The U.S. is backing moderate rebels seeking to topple dictator Bashar Assad.

"If someone has never made a ripple in the pond in Syria in a way that would get their identity or their interest reflected in our database, we can query our database until the cows come home, but there will be nothing show up because we have no record of them," Comey told the House Homeland Security Committee in October.

McCaul and Hudson said the American Security Against Foreign Enemies (SAFE) Act would create the most robust national security vetting process in history for any refugee population.

In addition to requiring the top three national security officials to certify refugees, it requires the FBI director to certify the background investigation of each refugee. It also requires the Department of Homeland Security's inspector general to independently assess the refugee approvals to prevent high-risk people from being admitted.

"America is a compassionate country," Hudson said. "But we owe it to the American people to know who these people are."

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Rep. John Conyers of Michigan, the senior Democrat on the House Judiciary Committee, called the bill "an extreme overreaction."

"It would effectively deny refugee status for Syrians and Iraqis who are victims of terrorism in their own homelands," Conyers said. "Rather than betraying our values, we must continue to focus on the most effective means to keep us safe while also providing protection for the world's most vulnerable."

In the Senate, Jeff Flake of Arizona and Dianne Feinstein of California introduced legislation Thursday to disqualify Europeans and other foreign citizens from being granted a visa waiver to enter the U.S. if they have traveled to Syria or Iraq within the past five years. The U.S. has a program that exempts the citizens of about 40 nations — all strong U.S. allies — from having to get visas to enter the country.

http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/2...ting/76041668/

House votes 289-137 to shut down or pause Syrian refugee program

This bill's a total FRAUD. No way DHS or FBI can "vet" someone from one of these Third World He// Holes. Besides, if the bill becomes law over Barry Insane's veto, he'll just ignore it. The word will go out to the bureacracy to rubber-stamp all the "refugee" apps. Barry wants Muslims to keep flooding into this country.

How California's congressional delegation voted on the bill to block Syrian refugees

House Republicans

YES Rep. Ken Calvert (Corona)
YES Rep. Paul Cook (Yucca Valley)
YES Rep. Jeff Denham (Turlock)
YES Rep. Duncan Hunter (Alpine)
YES Rep. Darrell Issa (Vista)
YES Rep. Steve Knight (Palmdale)
YES Rep. Doug LaMalfa (Richvale)
YES Rep. Kevin McCarthy (Bakersfield)
YES Rep. Tom McClintock (Elk Grove)
YES Rep. Devin Nunes (Tulare)
YES Rep. Dana Rohrabacher (Costa Mesa)
YES Rep. Ed Royce (Fullerton)
YES Rep. David Valadao (Hanford)
YES Rep. Mimi Walters (Irvine)

House Democrats

YES Rep. Pete Aguilar (Redlands)
NO Rep. Karen Bass (Los Angeles)
NO Rep. Xavier Becerra (Los Angeles)
YES Rep. Ami Bera (Elk Grove)
YES Rep. Julia Brownley (Westlake Village)
NO Rep. Lois Capps (Santa Barbara)
NO Rep. Tony Cardenas (Los Angeles)
NO Rep. Judy Chu (Monterey Park)
YES Rep. Jim Costa (Fresno)
NO Rep. Susan A. Davis (San Diego)
NO Rep. Mark DeSaulnier (Concord)
NO Rep. Anna G. Eshoo (Menlo Park)
NO Rep. Sam Farr (Carmel)
YES Rep. John Garamendi (Walnut Grove)
YES Rep. Janice Hahn (Los Angeles)
NO Rep. Michael M. Honda (San Jose)
NO Rep. Jared Huffman (San Rafael)
NO Rep. Barbara Lee (Oakland)
NO Rep. Ted Lieu (Torrance)
NO Rep. Zoe Lofgren (San Jose)
NO Rep. Alan Lowenthal (Long Beach)
NO Rep. Doris Matsui (Sacramento)
NO Rep. Jerry McNerney (Stockton)
NO Rep. Grace F. Napolitano (Norwalk)
NO Rep. Nancy Pelosi (San Francisco)
YES Rep. Scott Peters (San Diego)
NO Rep. Lucille Roybal-Allard (Downey)
YES Rep. Raul Ruiz (Palm Desert)
NO Rep. Linda T. Sanchez (Whittier)
NO Rep. Loretta Sanchez (Santa Ana)
NO Rep. Adam B. Schiff (Burbank)
NO Rep. Brad Sherman (Sherman Oaks)
NO Rep. Jackie Speier (Hillsborough)
NO Rep. Eric Swalwell (Dublin)
NO Rep. Mark Takano (Riverside)
NO Rep. Mike Thompson (St. Helena)
NO Rep. Norma Torres (Pomona)
NO Rep. Juan Vargas (San Diego)
NO Rep. Maxine Waters (Los Angeles)

http://www.latimes.com/politics/la-p...htmlstory.html

Originally Posted by vivalamigra

This bill's a total FRAUD. No way DHS or FBI can "vet" someone from one of these Third World He// Holes. Besides, if the bill becomes law over Barry Insane's veto, he'll just ignore it. The word will go out to the bureacracy to rubber-stamp all the "refugee" apps. Barry wants Muslims to keep flooding into this country.

We need to shut it all down, all immigration, green cards, work visas, work permits, student visas, asylum-seekers, refugees, all of it. We're full. We're boiling over with immigrants. We're saturated.

We must demand a Moratorium for at least 20 years on all immigration to give us time to sort out this disaster and reset the system so this catastrophe never happens again in the United States.

The passage of this Bill in the U.S. House of Representatives is a victory for common sense.

1/20/16

Senate Democrats block Syrian refugee bill