Wary governors halt, question plan to accept Syrian refugees

STATE NEWS

Wary governors halt, question plan to accept Syrian refugees

DETROIT (AP) — Several U.S. governors are threatening to halt efforts to allow Syrian refugees into their states in the aftermath of the coordinated attacks in Paris, though an immigration expert says they have no legal authority to do so.

The governors are responding to heightened concerns that terrorists might use the refugees as cover to sneak across borders. Authorities said a Syrian passport was found near one of the attackers, and the Paris prosecutors’ office says fingerprints from the attacker match those of someone who passed through Greece in October.

Millions of Syrians have fled to neighboring Middle Eastern countries and Europe, and President Barack Obama’s administration has pledged to accept about 10,000 Syrian refugees in the next 12 months. The U.S. State Department said the refugees would be spread across the country. Republican presidential candidates have criticized the plan.

In response to the calls from governors to prevent Syrian refugees from coming to their states, Lavinia Limon, president and CEO of the U.S. Committee for Refugees and Immigration, said under the Refugee Act of 1980 governors cannot legally block refugees from settling in their communities.

Here’s a look at where some states stand:

ILLINOIS

Gov. Bruce Rauner joined the growing list of Republican governors who announced they want to prevent Syrian refugees from relocating in their states. In a statement issued Monday, Rauner said the state will “temporarily suspend accepting new Syrian refugees and consider all of our legal options pending a full review of the process by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.” State officials say 169 Syrian refugees have settled in Illinois since 2010.

IOWA

Saying he wants to protect residents of his state in the wake of terrorist attacks in Paris, Gov. Terry Branstad acknowledged that governors might not be have the legal authority to prevent the Syrian refugees from relocating to their states because “this is a federal program.” Still, the Republican says he wants more information from the federal government about where people are being placed and the vetting process.

INDIANA

Republican Gov. Mike Pence announced Monday that he was ordering state agencies to suspend the relocation of any more Syrian refugees to the state until he received assurances from the federal government that proper security measures had been taken.

MICHIGAN

Gov. Rick Snyder had bucked many fellow Republican leaders by welcoming refugees to Michigan, which has a large Arab-American population. But he said Sunday that the state is postponing efforts to accept refugees until federal officials fully review security procedures and clearances. Snyder said that while he is proud of the state’s history of immigration, its “first priority is protecting the safety of our residents.”

WASHINGTON

Gov. Jay Inslee says Washington state will welcome Syrian refugees if the federal government ultimately decides the state will receive any of those the Obama’s administration has pledged to resettle over the next year. Inslee criticized other governors who have threated to stop accepting refugees following last week’s attacks in Paris. From October 2014 through September of this year, 25 Syrian refugees have settled in Washington state.

WISCONSIN

Gov. Scott Walker said in September that the United States should not take in any more refugees from Syria and now, in the wake of the terrorist attack in Paris, Republican leaders of the Wisconsin state Assembly are saying the same thing. They’re circulating a letter they plan to send to President Barack Obama’s administration saying they don’t want any Syrian refugees.