WHEELING, W.Va. — Despite skepticism state officials have expressed about President Barack Obama’s plan to allow Syrian refugees into the United States, the Catholic Charities West Virginia plans to resettle approximately 100 refugees statewide.
Mark Sliter, the executive director of CC in Wheeling, said they are “very confident” the refugees would be fully vetted without causing any trouble.
“It’s an 18 to 24 month screening process,” he said. “(For) the terrorist, that’s the longest process, so it doesn’t make any sense for them to go through that process with all the security checks.”
Since the September 11, 2001 attacks, Sliter said thousands of refugees have gone through the screening process to begin a new life and not create fear for the American people.
“I think for the ones in West Virginia, they acclimate very well. They have other family members already here. We try to find them jobs quickly. It’s more of just continuing to work with them to assimilate them into American society,” said Sliter.
Both West Virginia’s U.S. senators Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) and Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.Va.), along with West Virginia Congressmen David McKinley (R-W.Va., 1) and Evan Jenkins (R-W.Va., 3) have each said the United States should remain cautious about receiving refugees in light of the Paris terrorist attacks earlier this month.
Reports showed at least one of the men responsible for the attacks was believed to have entered France with Syrian refugees.
McKinley and Jenkins said last week they supported a bill which would require the refugees to be fully checked before they enter the United States. The bill is now before the U.S. Senate and if passed, President Obama is promising he will veto the measure.
Sliter was a guest on Monday’s MetroNews “Talkline.” When asked by host Hoppy Kercheval ‘What do you say to folks who, right now, are very concerned about security in the country?,’ he said it all comes down to educating the public about the program.
“The refugee program is simply the toughest way for a foreigner to legally enter the United States,” Sliter said. “We feel like this is the right thing to do. These are victims, as well, of ISIS or refugees from other countries from persecution, so we are a welcoming state.”
As of last week, Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin’s office has not been contacted by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Office of Refugee Resettlement regarding large-scale placements of Syrian refugees.
Tomblin’s communication director Chris Stadleman previously told MetroNews any smaller placements would likely take more than a year to occur and that the state would “make appropriate preparations, as necessary.”
At least 30 states have already declared they will not be open to the resettlement of refugees.
The issue could be discussed by state lawmakers during the 2016 Legislative Session.