US House Speaker wants to halt entry of Syrian refugees

NEW YORK

House Speaker Paul Ryan on Tuesday called for a “pause” in the admission of Syrian refugees to the country in the wake of Friday’s deadly attacks in Paris.

"This is a moment where it is better to be safe than sorry,” said Ryan.

“We think the prudent, the responsible thing is to take a pause in this particular aspect of this refugee program in order to verify that terrorists are not trying to infiltrate the refugee population," he added.

Ryan’s remarks came amid mounting pressure from Republican lawmakers in the House of Representatives to halt the government’s program to accept resettled Syrian refugees in response to the Paris attacks in which a militant posing as a refugee has been implicated.

Ryan said a task force would begin to explore ways for Congress to address the refugee crisis and the fight against the Daesh militant group.

Since Friday, at least 31 state governors, mostly Republicans, vowed to bar Syrian refugees from entering their jurisdictions. The states span the nation from Alabama to New Jersey, Nevada to New Hampshire, and Florida to Arizona.

Republican presidential candidate and New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie went as far as to say that the U.S. should not admit any refugees – not even “orphans under age five”.

"I do not trust this administration to effectively vet the people who are supposed to be coming in in order to protect the safety and security of the American people, so I would not permit them in," he told a radio show.

Human Rights Watch warned that the vow by the governors amount to “fear-mongering” and would "tarnish the country’s reputation as a place where resettled refugees can find safety”.

“Resettled refugees from Syria have fled persecution and violence, and undergone rigorous security screening by the US government,” said Alison Parker, a U.S. expert at the rights watchdog.

“The governors’ announcements amount to fear-mongering attempts to block Syrians from joining the generous religious groups and communities who step forward to welcome them,” she added.

A State Department spokesman said because the resettlement programs are federally run, governors lack the legal authority to bar Syrian refugees from their states. But they can complicate efforts by refusing to accept funding to assist refugees.

"We hope it never comes to that, but theoretically, they could say, 'No. We don't accept refugee resettlement funds,'" said Mark Toner.

President Barack Obama announced in September that he planned to accept at least 10,000 Syrian refuges by the end of October 2016.

During a 90-minute call with 34 governors, senior Obama administration officials assured the group that Obama's "top priority" is the safety of the American people.

"Several governors expressed their appreciation for the opportunity to better understand the process and have their issues addressed directly by representatives of the agencies responsible for the refugee and screening programs," the White House said in a readout of the call. "Others encouraged further communication to ensure that governors are able to better respond to questions from the public about the refugee screening and resettlement process."

More than 4 million Syrians have fled the country since a civil war began there in 2011, according to UN figures.

Neighboring Turkey, which shares a 900-kilometer (560-mile) border with Syria, is now the largest refugee-hosting country in the world with more than 2 million Syrian refugees on its soil.