Gov. Mary Fallin wants President Obama to stop accepting Syrian refugees into the United States after Friday’s terrorist attacks in Paris that killed 129 people and killed scores more.
“The Obama administration needs to assure the public that the background checks they are doing are rigorous, and that American lives will not be endangered in the process,” Fallin said in a statement. “Until then, I call on the Obama administration to suspend any Syrian refugees into the United States. During these uncertain times, the Obama administration needs to make sure those entering the United States are not terrorists.”
Adam Soltani, the executive director of the Oklahoma chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations, said Fallin’s move perpetuates fear.
@GovMaryFallin caves to #xenophobia and calls for suspension of accepting #SyrianRefugees https://t.co/C4Lyy7AVAY
— Adam Soltani (@AdamSoltani) November 17, 2015
There are only two centers in Oklahoma where refugees are processed – both are run by Catholic Charities. One is located in Tulsa, the other in Oklahoma City, and they mostly assist refugees seeking to reunite with family.
Catholic Charities in Tulsa has placed three refugees from Syria in the suburb of Jenks, where they already had families. They’re the only Syrians who have officially been placed as refugees in this state since 2012.
Data from the U.S. Department of State indicates 54 refugees were settled in Oklahoma in October, but all of them were from Myanmar, the country formerly known as Burma.
Fallinjoined governors in several other states in making the request to the administration, but under the Refugee Act of 1980, only President Obama has the authority to deny refugees from entering states.
President Obama has said his administration will work to bring 10,000 refugees to the United States in the next year. Nevertheless, several state and federal lawmakers have sided with Fallin. Oklahoma’s senior U.S. Sen. Jim Inhofe wants Congress to review the State Department’s vetting process. He says accepting refugees is an important part of U.S. history, but the Syrian crisis is different because Islamic State militants have exploited the situation.
“We saw this danger first hand with Ahmad Al Mohammad who participated in the recent terrorist attacks in Paris and whose passport and fingerprints matched a person who passed through Greece as a Syrian refugee,” Inhofe said in a statement. “With ISIS releasing a video on Monday vowing its next attacks on America, this is clearly not a time for the Obama administration to increase, much less expedite, refugees being brought to our soil.”
Over the weekend State Rep. John Bennett called for an investigation of the Syrian refugees who have settled in Oklahoma, citing a recent study by The New York Times of where the nearly 1,900 Syrian refugees have settled in the U.S. Bennett’s House colleagues State Reps. Casey Murdock and Sean Roberts applauded Fallin’s move, and say a majority of Oklahomans don’t want the state to accept Syrian refugees.
“We should continue efforts by suspending all state agencies in assisting in the resettlement of additional refugees,” Murdock said in a statement. “If the federal government is not going to keep the American people safe, it is up to the states to keep us safe.”
Roberts said the United States should find a way to ease the crisis, but not by bringing refugees into the country.
“If one state allows the resettlement of refugees, they can continue to cross state lines with no true discourse.”
State Rep. Josh Cockroft said he appreciates Fallin's sentiment and agrees with her, but expects the move to end with a long legal battle between the states and the federal government.
"Telling the federal government our state will not allow entry to refugees of one region does nothing to address the root problem of the broken immigration system in this country. Our state has no enforced borders, nor the resources to provide them," Cockroft said in a statement. "The reality is not every refugee brings with them harmful intentions. In fact, many of them are fleeing terrorism and all ISIS and Al Qaeda stands for. In the past, Oklahomans have been a shining example to all the world in caring for the ‘least among us.’
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