President Obama’s plan to resettle at least 10,000 Syrian refugees in the U.S. next fiscal year carries real national security risks, House Homeland Security Committee Chairman Michael McCaul warns.
“The President wants to surge thousands of Syrian refugees into the United States, in spite of consistent intelligence community and federal law enforcement warnings that we do not have the intelligence needed to vet individuals from the conflict zone,” McCaul said in a statement Thursday.
Earlier Thursday, White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest said the U.S. would “accept at least 10,000 refugees in the next fiscal year.” Obama’s plan represents a dramatic increase over the 1,800 the U.S. is slated to accept this year.
McCaul has been warning about the potential security risks of accepting high volumes of Syrian refugees for months.
“We also know that ISIS wants to use refugee routes as cover to sneak operatives into the West. I implore the President to consult with Congress before taking any drastic action and to level with the American people about the very real security challenges we face,” the McCaul said.
The Texas lawmaker acknowledged the tragedy of the current Syrian refugee crisis, saying the U.S. can help but urged the administration to take on the real problem, ISIS.
“The President needs to develop a real strategy for victory to defeat ISIS and remove [Syrian President Bashar] Assad from power, which is the root cause of the problem,” he said. This is the culmination of a failed foreign policy to deal with the threats and now we have a humanitarian crisis on our hands.”
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