Chairman Gowdy to hold hearing Thursday re: Syria refugees
The House Judiciary Subcommittee on Immigration and Border Security has scheduled a hearing Thursday on the Syrian refugee crisis and its implications for U.S. security.
Contact Trey Gowdy via Committee aide: anna.bartlett@mail.house.gov
Also the entire Judiciary Committee can be reached via; nicolas.hagen@mail.house.gov or call 202-225-3951
America at risk: Obama still plans to let in 10,000 refugees after Paris attack
After terrorists launched multiple attacks in France killing 129 and wounding 350, the Obama Administration is still planning to accept 10,000 Syrian refugees. Even though it is known the assaults were carried out by three coordinated teams that included a 25-year-old Syrian terrorist, according to French officials is turning a blind eye to the possible threat of something similar happening in the U.S.
The Washington Times reports that Republicans have been warning that it’s all but impossible to stop terrorists from hiding among the migrants. However, a top White House adviser said on Sunday that President Obama still plans to accept the Syrian refugees. “We’re still planning to take in Syrian refugees,” Deputy National Security Advisor Ben Rhodes said on “Fox News Sunday.”
It has been reported that one of the terrorists in Friday’s deadly attacks on Paris may have used a Syrian passport to enter Europe with a flood of refugees, but Rhodes expressed confidence in the background-check system.
“We have very robust vetting procedures for those refugees. It involves our intelligence community, our National Counterterrorism Center, extensive interviews, vetting them against all the available information,” Rhodes said.
Not everyone shares Rhodes confidence. Rep. Peter King, the New York Republican who heads the House Homeland Security intelligence subcommittee, called the statement “untrue.”
“There’s virtually no vetting because there are no databases in Syria. There are no government records. We don’t know who these people are,” King said on “Fox News Sunday.” He added, “And when you meet with the people doing the vetting, they tell us that.”
King, as well as others, question the intentions of the Obama Administration with regard to bringing in Syrian refugees. “They [the White House] are rolling the dice here, and we know that ISIS wants to bring in terrorists with these refugees,” King said. He believes President Obama should immediately stop taking Syrian refugees into the United States.
According to USA Today, House Homeland Security Chairman Michael McCaul, (write: homeland.security@mail.house.gov) R-Texas, said there are "gaping holes" in the vetting system for the Syrian refugees. "We (Congress) don't want to be complicit in a program that could bring terrorists into the U.S.," he said.
The House Judiciary Subcommittee on Immigration and Border Security has scheduled a hearing Thursday on the Syrian refugee crisis and its implications for U.S. security. (write: anna.bartlett@mail.house.gov)
King feels Obama should take decisive action. "He should absolutely suspend it (the refugee program) unless they can show 100 percent that a person is not involved with ISIS," King said, referring to Islamic State terrorists."Right now, there is no responsible way to do the vetting, and that’s the reality." Of course Rhodes thinks otherwise and says the U.S. should not turn its back on the refugees.
Speaking to a cheering Southeast Texas crowd Saturday, Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump stated that U.S. immigration policy is lax on several fronts and that letting in Syrian refugees would pose a serious security risk. “Our president wants to take in 250,000 from Syria,” said Trump, noting early reports that one of the Paris attackers might have been from Syria. “We all have heart, and we all want people taken care of and all that, but some of them are going to have problems, big problems. He added, "You’d have to be insane” to allow so many refugees to come to the U.S."
Even Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., a candidate for the GOP nomination for president, spoke against it. "This is a swarm of refugees," he said. "You can have 1,000 people come in, and 999 of them are just poor people fleeing oppression and violence, but one of them is an ISIS fighter. If that’s the case, you have a problem, and there is no way to vet that out."
What will it take for this American president to put the safety and well-being of American citizens first? From everything he has done for the past seven years, it doesn't appear that will be a top priority any time soon.