Obama admin says states lack authority to block refugees

[jg1]

Obama admin says states lack authority to block refugees

 

By MATTHEW DALY14 hours ago

• 
• 
• 
• 

•  
•  
•  

 

.

View gallery

• 
  .

WASHINGTON (AP) — Amid a growing political controversy, the Obama administration on Wednesday reminded state officials across the country that states do not have legal authority to refuse to accept Syrian refugees.

Related Stories

1. Obama Administration Says States Can’t Block Refugees CBS Dallas Fort Worth (RSS)
2. Reminder From The Obama Administration: States Can't Block Refugees Huffington Post
3. Experts say states lack legal authority to block refugees Associated Press
4. Wary governors halt, question plan to accept Syrian refugees Associated Press
5. Growing number of states refuse to accept Syrian refugees in wake of Paris attacks ABC News
6. Drink UP Every Day with 7UP®Sponsored 

The Office of Refugee Resettlement said in a letter to state resettlement officials that states may not deny benefits and services to refugees based on a refugee's country of origin or religious affiliation.

States that do not comply with the requirement would be breaking the law and could be subject to enforcement action, including suspension or termination of the federally funded program, according to the letter, signed by the director of the federal resettlement office, Robert Carey.

The letter came after more than two dozen governors, mostly Republicans, vowed to block efforts to resettle Syrian refugees in their states following the Nov. 13 terrorist attacks in Paris. The governors said they fear that militants planning a terror attack could enter the country under the guise of seeking refuge from war-torn Syria. In the House, lawmakers have voted overwhelmingly to erect higher hurdles for Syrian and Iraqi refugees.

The Obama administration counters that the vetting process is thorough and can take up to two years. President Barack Obama has said the U.S. will remain a welcoming place for refugees from around the world.

The letter from the federal resettlement office said would-be refugees "are subject to the highest level of security checks of any category of traveler to the United States." The screening process is "multi-layered and intensive" and involves multiple law enforcement, national security and intelligence agencies across the federal government, the letter said.

View gallery

AUSTIN, TX - NOVEMBER 22: Members of The Syrian People Solidarity Group protest on November 22, 201 …

A spokesman for the Texas Health and Human Services Commission, which oversees refugee resettlement in the state, said the letter will not change the state's position of blocking Syrian refugees.

The commission will continue to follow the directive of Republican Gov. Greg Abbott, who has called for Texas not to participate in the resettlement of Syrian refugees, said Bryan Black, a spokesman for the Texas commission. A spokesman for Abbott declined to comment.

The letter sent Wednesday, first reported by the Houston Chronicle, largely tracks with what legal experts have been saying since Abbott and other governors said they would not accept Syrian refugees due to security concerns fueled by terrorist attacks in Paris. Abbott has cited a specific part of the law that he says gives him authority to block Syrians, but experts largely have disagreed.

Roughly 2,200 Syrian refugees have been allowed in over the last four years. Obama has outlined a goal of bringing 10,000 more Syrian refugees to the U.S. during the current budget year.

The House bill would add a requirement for the Homeland Security secretary, along with the head of the FBI and the director of national intelligence, to certify that each refugee being admitted poses no security threat.

A spokeswoman in the Department of Health and Human Services, which oversees the resettlement office, said 49 states and the District of Columbia have refugee resettlement programs. Wyoming does not have a refugee resettlement program.

___

Follow Matthew Daly: http://twitter.com/MatthewDalyWDC

 

[bohica]

Dear penhead..

Go ahead and try to force the States to do your will.  Remember a little scrap called the Civil War?  It was over the same thing when the Federal government tried to force its will on the States.  Only this time the North and South will be united.  

[divemaster5734]

Dear penhead..

 Only this time the North and South will be united.  

Exactly.

The feds have been able to coerce the American People through bribery of the states through funding.

For as long as the states leadership was able to sell out their citizens without repurcussion, they became the fed's enablers.

Now that their state residents are fully aware of the seriousness of allowing the unapologetic invaders insider their borders, the politicians are fully aware they are finally at the crossroads they foolisly convinced themselves they would never pass.

It is time for them to do the job they were hired to do, to uphold the states constitution they swore to uphold, and serve the citizens whose rights they swore to protect.

From withholding hiway funds to force the 55mph speed limit, to health care, hiway improvements, and everything in between, the feds have been progressing from implied threats to what we have now, a POTUS that is so deluded he doesn't even realize who serves whom.

The ONLY reason the fed believe they have the authority, is because they think they have taken your power forever.

The retaking of America must start with each and every individual American.

Open your eyes, see a different America, be a different American.

Take back your power.

[dog53]

+1 JG

 

The FED GOVT  ONLY Duty is to protect the people of this country and to see that law is upheld in accordance to the Constitution.

 

Period.

Anything other then that is overreach  

[nannab]

Oh that's right only he and his minions can break the law.