Sixty-two mayors from 28 states, Washington, D.C., and Puerto Rico told Congress on Friday that they support Syrian refugee resettlement inside the United States.
In an open letter to members, the mayors called on Congress to “take no action that will prevent Syrian refugees from entering the United States after they have completed the screening process.” The lead signature on the letter was the leader of the U.S. Conference of Mayors, Baltimore Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake, a Democrat.
“Our nation has always been a beacon of hope for those seeking peace and protection from persecution,” they wrote. “We urge you to take no action that will jeopardize this rich and proud heritage.”
The letter stands in contrast to a letter from 27 Republican governors, which asked President Obama to “suspend all plans to resettle additional Syrian refugees.”
“We are deeply concerned that the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria may have exploited the generosity of the refugee system to carry out Friday’s terrorist attack in Paris,” the governors’ letter read.
“This is really about recognizing that we have to set the political posturing aside and fix this system in order to protect our nation,” Gov. Mike Pence, R-Ind., said Friday. “I just think it’s prudent for us to pause. Then we’ll go forward with the compassionate resettlement program in a way that meets our security needs.”
The refugees issue continues to be hotly debated in the American political scene, one week after the Paris terrorist attacks that killed 129 people. France confirmed that one of the attackers entered the country as a refugee.
