Republican presidential candidate Carly Fiorina expressed concern Sunday over any potential U.S. role in sheltering wayward migrants fleeing the Middle East, and slammed President Obama for decisions he made in his first term that she argued precipitated the crisis.
“We have known the crisis was coming for a very long time. This is an example of what happens when the United States fails to lead. President Obama had options in Syria three years ago and he failed to exercise any of those options,” Fiorina said on CBS’s “Face The Nation.”
The crisis, principally fueled by a brutal civil war in Syria but also by chaos in Afghanistan and Iraq, is roiling Europe.
The European Union countries are noted for their generous welfare states, but have a more precarious relationship with immigration, with many having more restrictive immigration regimes than the United States.
Some countries have generously accepted a surprising number of migrants — Germany and Switzerland, notably — but others such as Hungary are attempting to accept almost none.
Fiorina appears to have endorsed the latter course for the U.S.
“I think the United States sadly cannot relax our entrance criteria,” Fiorina said to the question of the U.S. role accepting migrants from the Middle East.
Fiorina’s position stands in contrast with that of Democratic presidential candidate Martin O’Malley. This week, he called for the U.S. to accept 65,000 refugees from this crisis, half the number recommended by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees.
She concluded by reiterating her belief that this crisis originated with the policy of President Obama. “Sadly this is a crisis that everyone should have known was coming for at least three years now,” Fiorina said.
