Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley is warning that President Obama plans to use emergency authority to go around Congress to “open the floodgates” to Syrian refugees, even if he has to parole thousands into the United States.
In a statement after the administration suggested it was ready to increase the number of refugees accepted by 5,000 next year to 75,000, including an unspecified number from Syria, Grassley said that the U.S. already does enough to help refugees and he said Obama instead should urge Middle Eastern nations to help first.
“The United States welcomes more refugees than the rest of the world’s countries combined, and there’s no question that we need to continue to do our part to help with the crisis that is unfolding in the Middle East and Europe,” the Iowa senator said in a statement.
“But the administration also needs to enlist the help of other capable, affluent nations in the Middle East to deal with the crisis in Syria to care for those who are fleeing violence and persecution,” he added.
The statement followed a Wednesday meeting with Secretary of State John Kerry.
“Secretary Kerry initially said that the Obama administration is seeking a reasonable increase in refugees allowed into the United States in the upcoming fiscal year. But when pressed, the administration indicated that they were considering opening the floodgates and using emergency authority to go above what they proposed to Congress in today’s consultation. The administration also has not ruled out potentially paroling thousands of Syrians into the United States,” said Grassley.
Paul Bedard, the Washington Examiner’s “Washington Secrets” columnist, can be contacted at [email protected].
