After the ISIS terror attacks in Paris, where at least one of the attackers posed as a Syrian refugee to get into Western Europe, governors from across the United States are refusing to accept new refugees from terrorism hot spots as President Obama refuses to reevaluate the national security implications of his administration's current refugee policy.
Yesterday House Homeland Security Chairman Michael McCaul sent President Obama a letter asking for the suspension of his Syrian refugee program, citing the fact FBI and Homeland Security officials do not have the infrastructure necessary to properly vet people coming into the country.
"Leaders from the FBI, National Counterterrorism Center (NCTC), and Department of Homeland Security (DHS) have repeatedly indicated to my Committee that we lack the on-the-ground intelligence necessary to thoroughly vet Syrian refugees seeking to resettle here," McCaul wrote in the letter. "I call on you to temporarily suspend the admission of all additional Syrian refugees into the United States pending a full review of the Syrian refugee resettlement program."
"Our nation has a proud tradition of welcoming refugees into our country, but in this particular car the high-threat environment demands that we move forward with great caution in order to protect the American people and to prevent terrorists from reaching our shores," McCaul continued.
On Wednesday, the Committee will hold a hearing to examine the growing safe havens for Islamic terrorists, including ISIS, in the Middle East and their threat to the United States.
"We are witnessing the most rapid spread of Islamist terror sanctuaries in history, but still have no viable strategy to combat this national security threat. The brutal Assad regime, with its Iranian support, continues to fuel radicalism. ISIS is using its base in Syria and Iraq to expand globally. And a destabilizing Russia is flexing its military muscle in the region in the absence of American leadership," McCaul released in a statement. "Meanwhile at home, the FBI is conducting ISIS-related investigations in all 50 states. ISIS alone has inspired or directed 18 terrorist plots in America since 2014 and the group has been linked to more than 60 plots around the globe. This hearing is necessary to examine how instability abroad creates dangerous safe havens for Islamist terrorists to train and recruit, as well as how our lack of a strategy to deal with these ungoverned spaces leads to a greater threat to Americans at home.”
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