Washington, DC:
The burden to keep our immigration system both safe and generous falls on Congress.
America’s immigration system is the most generous in the world. Accordingly, the law allows for those who have a “well-founded fear of being persecuted for reasons of race, religion, nationality, membership of a particular social group or political opinion” to enter the U.S. as a refugee. This definition is importantly limited in scope and applies to individuals on a case-by-case basis. It may not apply to everyone fleeing one country equally.
The State Department, according to its legal authority granted by Congress, announced that 10,000 of the 85,000 refugee slots for 2016 will be reserved for Syrians. Given the current climate around the globe, a refugee population so large, fleeing a war torn region, with ample evidence that a group of Syrian refugees is much more likely to contain Islamic Extremists bent on violence in America creating a completely unsecure, dangerous, and untenable situation for the American people.
During his testimony before the House Committee on Homeland Security FBI Director James Comey clearly indicated that the FBI does not have the ability to conduct thorough background checks on 10,000 Syrian refugees. At the moment, we are convinced there is no possible way to verify the identity and credibility of Syrian refugees, and recognize that to be a grave national security threat. Of the challenge in verifying the identity of a Syrian refugee, he said, ““And so if someone has never made a ripple in the pond in Syria in a way that would get their identity or their interest reflected in our database, we can query our database until the cows come home, but there will be nothing show up because we have no record of them.”
Until there is assurance that all potential terrorists are screened out, Syrian refugees cannot be allowed to immigrate to the United States. If the administration is determined to grant refugee status to 10,000 (or more) Syrian refuges, it is incumbent upon Congress to intervene. According to Article I, Section 8 of the Constitution, the Congress has sole discretion over immigration law and federal spending. On December 11th, funding for all government programs will expire. In the interest of national security, Congress must prohibit funding for the State Department to allow any Syrian immigrant to gain refugee status.
There are compassionate approaches that do not entail the security risks associated with allowing vast numbers of un-vetted, displaced people into the United States. For example, humanitarian support could be provided directly to displaced people currently in refugee camps in the Kurdistan region of Iraq and elsewhere. We could also assist the government of Kurdistan in its efforts to care for those displaced by shifting already allotted financial and/or other resources for the current camps, and also ensure more are built if needed.
Congress should then work with the intelligence agencies to develop a vetting process that assures the nation our refugee laws do not make us less safe. We must be able to verify that any individual seeking any immigration status does not pose a threat to this nation. Congress should pause any new Syrian refugees, and allow a deliberative process for lawmakers to ensure any proposed vetting process is secure, transparent, and respects the role of state governments.
[column type=”one-half”]
The Honorable Edwin Meese III
Former Attorney General
President Ronald Reagan
The Honorable J. Kenneth Blackwell
Former U.S. Ambassador
UN Human Rights Commission
The Honorable Colin A. Hanna
President
Let Freedom Ring, Inc.
William L. Walton
Vice President
Council for National Policy
Michael A. Needham
Chief Executive Officer
Heritage Action for America
Erick-Woods Erickson
Editor-in-Chief, RedState
Host of The Erick Erickson Show
Alfred S. Regnery
Chairman
Law Enforcement Legal Defense Fund
David Bozell
President, ForAmerica
Willes K. Lee
Executive Vice President
National Federation of Republican Assemblies
Tim LeFever
Chairman
Capitol Resource Institute
Jason Jones
President
Movie to Movement
Lee A. Beaman
Chief Executive Officer
Beaman Automotive
Kevin Freeman
Founder, NSIC Institute
Andrea S. Lafferty
President
Traditional Values Coalition
Morton C. Blackwell
Chairman
The Weyrich Lunch
Rod D. Martin
Founder and CEO
The Martin Organization
Sherri R. Martin
The Martin Foundation
Nicholas Stehle
Campaign for the American Future
Hon. Sharron Angle
President
National Federation of Republican Assemblies
Hon. Jerry Melvin
President
Florida Republican Assembly
Ron Robinson
President
Young America’s Foundation
Robert D. Thompson
Administrator
The Weyrich Lunch
Gary A. Marx
Senior Partner
Madison Strategies
Ron Pearson
Executive Director
Conservative Victory Fund
Dee Hodges
President
Maryland Taxpayers Association
Richard Manning
President
Americans for Limited Government
Michael R. Long
State Chairman
New York State Conservative Party
Peter Hoekstra
Shillman Senior Fellow
Investigative Project on Terrorism
Former Chairman, House Intelligence Committee
Andresen Blom
Executive Director
Grassroot Hawaii Action
Elaine Donnelly
President
Center for Military Readiness
Allen Roth
President
Secure America Now
Col. Francis X. De Luca USMCR(Ret)
President
Civitas Institute
Herman Cain
CEO and President
www.hermancain.com
Christopher N. Malagisi
President
Young Conservatives Coalition
Terrence Scanlon
President
Capital Research Center
Frank J. Gaffney, Jr.
President and CEO
Center for Security Policy
David W. Preston
Executive Director
Oklahoma Wesleyan University Foundation
Mr. Lewis K. Uhler
Founder and President
National Tax Limitation Committee
(All organizations listed for IDENTIFICATION purposes only)
UPDATED: 2/5/16
[/column]
[column type=”one-half” last=”true”]
The Honorable Becky Norton Dunlop
Chairman, Conservative Action Project (CAP)
Former White House Advisor, President Ronald Reagan
The Honorable Tony Perkins
President
Family Research Council
Ed Corrigan
Former Executive Director
Senate Steering Committee
Herman Pirchner, Jr.
President
American Foreign Policy Council (AFPC)
The Honorable Bob McEwen
U.S. House of Representatives
Former Member, Ohio
L. Brent Bozell, III
Chairman
Media Research Center
Diana L. Banister
Shirley & Banister Public Affairs
Hon. James C. Miller III
Former OMB Director
President Ronald Reagan
Bob Adams
President
Revive America PAC
Seton Motley
President
Less Government
Neil Patel
Co-founder and Publisher
The Daily Caller
C. Preston Noell III
President
Tradition, Family, Property, Inc.
Kevin Kookogey
President and Founder
The Advancing Church
Bradley Mattes
President
Life Issues Institute
Tricia Erickson
President, Angel Pictures & Publicity
Publisher: www.TheConservativePundit.net
Susan W. Gore
President
Wyoming Liberty Group
Russell J. Ramsland, Jr.
Candidate for U.S. House
District 32 – Texas
Hon. Somers H. White
Former Arizona State Senator
Dan Weber
President
Association of Mature American Citizens (AMAC)
Mike Spence
President
Conservative Republicans of California
Ambassador Henry F. Cooper
Former SDI Director
Former Chief Defense and Space Negotiator
Jim Simpson
Author: The Red Green Axis: Refugees, Immigration
and the Agenda to Erase America
Judson Phillips
Founder, Tea Party Nation
TPN Networks & Teapartynation.com
Tim Wildmon
President, American Family Association
Mat Staver, Esq.
Founder and Chairman
Liberty Counsel
Charles J. Cooper
Cooper & Kirk, PLLC
Hon. Mike Hill
Florida State Representative
District 2
Thomas P. Kilgannon
President
Freedom Alliance
Robert K. Fischer
Meeting Coordinator for Conservatives of Faith
Gary L. Bauer
President
American Values
Melissa Ortiz
Founder & Principal
Able Americans
Jim Backlin
Christian Coalition of America
Donna Hearne
Chief Executive Officer
The Constitutional Coalition
Belden Bell
Trustee
The Heritage Foundation
Peter J. Thomas
Chairman
Americans for Constitutional Liberty
Tom DeLay
Former House Majority Leader
Rick Scarborough
President
Vision America Action
Lt. Col. Allen B. West (US Army, Ret)
President/CEO, National Center for Policy Analysis
Member, 112th US Congress
[/column]
