The Obama administration is working to bring more Syrian refugees to the United States over the next few years. Obama said recently that the U.S. will resettle 10,000 in the next fiscal year, even though international organizations, some Democratic lawmakers, and a “bipartisan group of former senior U.S. officials” have called for the resettlement of at least 65,000.
Secretary of State John Kerry announced Sunday that the U.S.’ annual quota of resettling 75,000 refugees would be raised to 100,000 by 2017. Kerry didn’t mention how many of those would be Syrians, though it is widely believed that the U.S. could welcome 30,000 Syrian refugees in the next two years.
No matter how many Syrian refugees the administration wants to resettle, they will face serious opposition from Congress. Citing fears that terrorists could infiltrate the U.S. posing as refugees, Republican lawmakers are demanding the right to review and reject any proposal aimed at resettling more Syrian refugees. Chairman of the House of Representatives Homeland Security Committee, Rep. Michael McCaul (R-TX), is planning to pass a bill that would allow Congress the right to review and reject plans to resettle Syrian refugees. The bill would also further tighten already stringent security screenings.
“This bill will rein in the Administration’s refugee resettlement plans and give Congress more control over the process,” McCaul told Reuters.
To date, the U.S. has only resettled around 1,600 Syrian refugees. Globally, there are more than 4 million, mostly living in Turkey, Lebanon, Jordan, Egypt and Iraq. Many have started the arduous journey to Europe in recent weeks though, as aid is drying up in Syria’s neighboring countries and winter approaches.
As ThinkProgress highlighted last week, the theory that ISIS will pose as Syrian refugees to infiltrate and plan attacks on the U.S. doesn’t seem to have much evidence to support it. ISIS has many fighters with western passports, as well as sympathizers already in the U.S., who are a more pertinent threat than the refugees. Multiple analysts also say cast doubt over this theory.
“I don’t see the need for ISIS to embark on such a convoluted scheme to carry out attacks or be a threat in the West,” Reinoud Leenders, associate professor in international relations and Middle East studies at King’s College London’s Department of War Studies, told the LA Times.
“To me it’s a flawed argument to say that we shouldn’t take people in because we’re scared of security issues,” Gauri van Gulik, deputy director for Europe at Amnesty International, also told the Times. “Right now people are coming in and there are a lot of irregular crossings into Europe. This approach isn’t keeping people out.”
The theory that ISIS fighters are posing as refugees is more likely driven by widespread Islamophobia in the U.S. This sentiment has been picked up on recently by the two Republican presidential candidates currently leading the polls.
Over the weekend, Dr. Ben Carson said on Meet the Press that he didn’t think a Muslim could be President of the United States. “I would not advocate that we put a Muslim in charge of this nation,” he said. “I absolutely would not agree with that.”
Last week, frontrunner Donald Trump took heat for failing to correct a supporter at a campaign rally who called President Obama a Muslim. Trump also was criticized for failing to scold the supporter when he insinuated that Muslims were a problem in the U.S.
Various groups concerned with civil rights and countering discrimination hit back at the presidential candidates. The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), the U.S.’ largest Muslim civil liberties organization, called for Carson to drop out of the race on Monday, while ADL director Jonathan Greenblatt released a statement condemning their remarks.
ADL director Jonathan Greenblatt strongly condemns Ben Carson and Donald Trump remarks. Full statement below. pic.twitter.com/456LzXW3PC
— Benjy Sarlin (@BenjySarlin) September 21, 2015
The festering of anti-Muslim fervor, particularly on the right but also with some liberals, has hit American Muslims hard. But it also threatens to discriminate against Syrian refugees who are facing a myriad of potential death threats.
“The rhetoric has been really awful,” James Zogby, president of the Arab American Institute, told Reuters. “The difficulty of doing it is met by this Islamophobia and conflation of Syrians… with terrorists.”