A group of Republicans are calling on House leadership to include language in the upcoming year-end spending bill that would pause refugee admissions to the United States from Syria, the Middle East and North Africa.
In a letter to House Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wisc.), Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) and Appropriations Committee Chairman Hal Rogers (R-Ky.), Rep. Brian Babin (R-Texas) and 37 House members make the case to defund refugee resettlement in the United States from those regions until several conditions are met.
“There is no duty of the federal government more important than ensuring the protection of the American people,” their letter, dated Thursday, reads. “We believe that we would fall short of that duty if the Congress fails to exercise greater authority over the Administration’s refugee resettlement program.”
It continues, “We see this as an important national security concern and ask that this concern be addressed in the upcoming negotiations over funding in the FY 2017 Continuing Resolution.”
The 38 lawmakers argue the House should permit funding to support refugee resettlement abroad but block funding for refugee resettlement in the United States from Syria, the Middle East and North Africa until:
a.Federal Immigration, law enforcement and national security agencies put in place processes to ensure that refugee and related programs are not able to be co-opted by would be terrorists;
b.That such process and programs are provided to the Congress in both classified and public formats;
c.That a longer-term monitoring process be put into place for those admitted to the U.S. as refugees; and
d.That no federal funds may be used for refugee travel to the U.S. or any U.S. resettlement of refugees from this troubled region until Congress has passed by joint resolution a bill that specifically approves funding for such purposes.
According to Babin and his 37 colleagues, the mass resettlement of refugees from terrorist hot-zones is a security concern for the United States as ISIS and other terror groups look to infiltrate the West via the refugee flows.
Compounding their concerns are the warnings voiced by top security officials about vulnerabilities in the government’s ability to fully vet refugees from the region.
“ISIS has repeatedly declared that they would infiltrate the refugee community that is leaving the Middle East and flooding into Europe,” they wrote. “The attacks across Europe over the past year appear to be a fulfillment of that threat.”
“We cannot allow the refugee program to serve as a Trojan Horse threat to American national security. Our sworn duty is first and foremost to the safety and security of the American people,” the letter concludes.