Congressman Unveils Bill that Would Give States Power to Veto Refugee Resettlement

A plan by Rep. Matt Rosendale (R-MT) would strip President Joe Biden’s authority to resettle hundreds of thousands of refugees across the United States with no input from Congress or American communities.

Rosendale’s SECURE Act would give authority to Congress over the annual inflow of refugees rather than the president and would halt all refugee resettlement until Congress sets the yearly refugee cap, a numerical limit on refugee admissions.

Likewise, the plan would give governors a 30-day notice before refugees are resettled in their states so that they can have veto power over whether to admit or reject refugee resettlement for the year. This provision had been imposed by former President Trump through an executive order but Biden rescinded the policy in January.

The plan also hugely bulks up the nation’s vetting and screening procedures for refugees — requiring that every refugee be signed off to Congress by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), the director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), and the director of National Intelligence.

The requirement would certify that each refugee reviewed by DHS, the FBI, and the nation’s intelligence agencies is not a threat to national security and is likely to assimilate into American society. Foreign nationals considered unlikely to assimilate would be barred from securing refugee status.

In addition, the plan prevents the federal government from using the parole process to bring foreign nationals to the U.S. in hopes to eventually give them refugee status.

Such a provision would be a blow to the Biden administration’s massive Afghan resettlement operation because most Afghans being flown to the U.S. are arriving on “humanitarian parole.”

“We have experienced an overwhelming number of unvetted aliens from one hundred and twenty-three nations entering our country with the absence of a proper vetting process,” Rosendale said in a statement. “That is a recipe for disaster. We need to know if these people are likely to assimilate and contribute to our country. This legislation would put the proper parameters in place to ensure we do just that.”

The legislation has 15 co-sponsors, including:

• Tom Tiffany (R-WI)
• Jeff Duncan (R-SC)
• Dan Bishop (R-NC)
• Gregory Steube (R-FL)
• Clay Higgins (R-LA)
• Bill Posey (R-FL)
• Bob Good (R-VA)
• Lance Gooden (R-TX)
• Mo Brooks (R-AL)
• Scott DesJarlais (R-TN)
• Randy Weber Sr. (R-TX)
• Scott Perry (R-PA)
• Ralph Norman (R-SC)
• Fred Keller (R-PA)
• Mary Miller (R-IL)

The plan is seemingly a rebuke of recent elected Republicans supporting Biden’s operation where about 53,000 Afghans are living on U.S. bases in Wisconsin, Texas, New Mexico, Indiana, New Jersey, and Virginia as the administration hopes to bring at least 95,000 Afghans to the U.S. over the next 12 months and resettle them across 46 states.

Last month, as Breitbart News reported, 49 House and Senate Republicans voted to allow Biden to open the resettlement up to an endless flow of Afghans in the future while providing those who arrive in the U.S. with housing assistance, cash, driver’s licenses, and welfare benefits.

Similarly, 18 Republican governors have voiced their support for Biden’s operation and asked the administration to resettle Afghans in their states.

Republican voters, though, are overwhelmingly against the operation.

A Pew Research Center survey shows Americans are, by a majority of 55 percent, not confident in Biden’s ability to adequately vet Afghans. In addition, 63 percent of Republicans and those who lean Republican oppose Biden’s resettlement operation altogether.

John Binder is a reporter for Breitbart News. Email him at jbinder@breitbart.com. Follow him on Twitter here.