US lawmakers called on Tuesday for even tighter scrutiny of Syrian refugees fleeing to the US as last week’s deadly Paris attacks recast America’s debate over immigration and national security, prompting a sharp rebuke from President Barack Obama, who said attempts to block entry were “offensive and contrary to American values”.
Republican leaders in the US House of Representatives, worried about radical attacks following Friday’s killings of over 130 people in France, threatened to suspend the Obama administration’s efforts to allow 10,000 more Syrian refugees into the country.
Democrats also called for close vetting of refugees from the four-year-old civil war in Syria in case they are linked to extremist groups such as Islamic State, which claimed responsibility for the Paris killings.
The attacks focused the spotlight in Washington on national security with the November 2016 presidential election campaign heating up and Obama in the final year of his presidency.
“This is a moment where it is better to be safe than sorry,” the Republican House Speaker Paul Ryan told reporters.
Separately, two influential senators, Republican Jeff Flake and Democrat Tim Kaine, responded to the Paris attacks by renewing their push for Congress to vote on a formal authorisation for the use of military force for the campaign against Islamic State.
But most of the emphasis in the Republican-controlled Congress has been on the backlash against Syrian refugees.
Ryan called for a pause in Obama’s programme, announced in September, to accept 10,000 Syrian refugees in a year. The number of Syrians destined for the US is low compared with figures in European countries such as Germany.
Obama, speaking on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in Manila early on Wednesday, accused politicians at home of trying to score political points.
“We are not well served when, in response to a terrorist attack, we descend into fear and panic. We don’t make good decisions if it’s based on hysteria or an exaggeration of risks,” he said, occasionally showing flashes of anger.
“I cannot think of a more potent recruitment tool for ISIL (another acronym for Islamic State) than some of the rhetoric thats been coming out of here during the course of this debate,” he said, referring to another name for Islamic State.
Obama said refugees are screened for 18 to 24 months before being cleared to enter the US, with the intelligence community fully vetting applicants.
“When candidates say we should not admit three-year-old orphans, that’s political posturing. When individuals say we should have religious tests, and only Christians, proven Christians, should be allowed, that’s offensive and contrary to American values.”
Republican Senator John McCain backed scrupulous vetting but also strongly opposed discrimination.
“All of us are God’s children ... so I disagree with that assumption that only Christian children should be able to come to the US,” he said.
