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Detroit welcomes
Syrian
refugees
despite
anti-Muslim
sentiment
By Jeff
Karoub
Associated
Press
DETROIT
- The
mayors
of
Detroit
and
Austin,
Texas,
said
Monday
that
they are
welcoming
Syrian
refugees
despite
pushback
by their
states'
Republican
governors
following
the
recent
deadly
attacks
in
Paris.
Detroit
Mayor
Mike
Duggan
said his
city can
support
50
Syrian
families
annually
for the
next
three
years
and is
"moving
down
that
road."
Mayor
Steve
Adler
said
Austin
has
accepted
three
Syrian
refugees
in the
past two
years
and
another
is
coming.
The
Democrats
spoke
during a
White
House-arranged
conference
call, a
week
after
numerous
Republican
governors
spoke
out
against
federal
refugee
policies.
Texas
Gov.
Greg
Abbott
has
instructed
refugee-resettling
organizations
to stop
helping
Syrians.
Michigan
Gov.
Rick
Snyder,
who has
lobbied
federal
officials
for
refugees
and
immigrants,
urged a
pause in
the
resettlement
program
until
security
concerns
are
addressed.
Duggan,
who
discussed
refugee
issues
with
Obama
administration
officials
last
month
during a
two-day
Washington,
D.C.,
trip,
said he
remains
comfortable
with the
refugee-vetting
process.
He said
the city
has
vacant
housing
that
could
accommodate
refugees,
as well
as
support
agencies
and a
large
Syrian
and
Middle
Eastern
community
in the
surrounding
area.
He said
all
mayors
are
"conscious
of this
terrorist
threat,"
which is
"very
real."
But he
called
accepting
refugees
a "very
human
issue."
Providing
"refuge"
to
victims
of
terror,
he said,
"is what
this
country
is all
about."
"We
stand in
Detroit
prepared
to do
our
share,"
he
added.
Snyder
has
tried to
communicate
his
continued
support
for
refugees
and
encouraged
his GOP
colleagues
to
maintain
a
welcoming
tone. He
said the
pause he
seeks
need not
be long,
but
enough
to
ensure
that the
appropriate
reviews
are
being
conducted.
Duggan
did not
say what
effect
Snyder's
call for
a delay
might
have on
Detroit's
plans.
The
Associated
Press
requested
additional
comment
from a
Duggan
spokesman.
As for
Texas,
Abbott
has said
since
last
week
that
he's
keeping
Texas
safe by
moving
to
refuse
Syrians
refugees
and that
his
reading
of
federal
law says
he has
the
authority
to do so
— even
though
legal
experts
disagree.
Adler
agreed
with
Duggan
that
refugees
are
terror
victims
themselves.
Adler
added
that
refugee
resettlement
organizations
in
Austin
aren't
sure
what
effect
Abbott's
order
will
have,
but the
mayor
said
he's
been
told
nothing
would
change
immediately.
"Everyone
is just
waiting
to see
what
happens,"
he said.
The call
also
featured
former
Secretary
of State
Madeleine
Albright
and
Deputy
Secretary
of
Homeland
Security
Alejandro
Mayorkas,
who
described
refugee
screening
as a
"comprehensive,
multilayered,
exhaustive
process"
that
typically
takes up
to two
years
but can
be
longer.
Refugees
from
Syria
and
Iraq, he
added,
go
through
an
additional
security
check.
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