WASHINGTON, D.C. — President Barack Obama sent the nation’s governors a message over the holiday weekend about Syrian refugees. They can’t refuse to take them.
“They must abide by the law,” Fox News Radio White House correspondent Jon Decker said on MetroNews “Talkline.” “They can’t deny any benefits that refugees would be due if indeed they travel to their states.”
Obama sent a letter to the governors through the Office of Refugee Reinstatement.
“Accordingly, states may not categorically deny ORR-funded benefits and services to Syrian refugees,” the letter said. “Any state with such a policy would not be in compliance with the State Plan requirements, applicable statutes, and their own assurances, and could be subject to enforcement action, including suspension and termination.”
The office of West Virginia Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin said earlier this month Tomblin didn’t anticipate getting a federal request for large-scale placement in the Mountain State. But if the request came, the state would “ensure proper security screening was conducted by federal and state officials.”
One of the difficulties is there is very little background information on the refugees, Decker said.
“They are coming from a country that is going through a civil war, that is war-torn, essentially a country in which we don’t even acknowledge the leadership of that nation,” Decker said.
President Obama has outlined a plan to bring 10,000 Syrian refugees to the U.S. in the current budget year.
More than two dozen governors have said they plan to resist the efforts. Their concern increased following the Nov. 13 terrorist attack in Paris. But they don’t have any legal footing, Decker said.
“I think what a lot of governors are doing is speaking on behalf of their constituents, but at the end of the day no governor can block any individual from entering their state,” he said.
Obama said the vetting process for refugees already takes two years.