Syrian Refugees Still Welcome in Pennsylvania

Lancaster Online ^ | 11/16/2015 | Tom Knapp

[oldmomster]

Syrian refugees still welcome in Pennsylvania, Gov. Tom Wolf says; some states slam doors on further resettlement

TOM KNAPP | Staff Writer Updated 5 min ago Comments

Syrian refugees are still welcome in Pennsylvania.

As several governors this week closed their doors to refugees in the wake of deadly terrorist attacks in Paris on Friday, Governor Tom Wolf said Pennsylvania will continue to accept refugees who have been properly screened.

Pennsylvania has a rich, multi-century tradition of accepting immigrants, Wolf said, and that that should continue.

“We must not lose sight of the fact that families leaving Syria are trying to escape the same violence and unimaginable terror that took place in Paris and Beirut,” Jeffrey Sheridan, Wolf’s press secretary, said Monday.

“To assist the settlement of families fleeing the humanitarian crisis in Syria, the federal government coordinates with local charitable organizations in Pennsylvania and other states,” Sheridan said.

Wolf also is committed “to protecting Pennsylvanians and will work with the federal government to ensure it is taking every precaution necessary in screening those families coming into the country,” Sheridan added.

Governors in Texas, Alabama and Indiana have said they will refuse to let Syrian refugees relocate in their states following the Paris attacks.

Michigan's governor is postponing the relocation of Syrian refugees there until federal officials review security procedures. The governor in Arkansas said he opposes further refugees in his state, and Louisiana's governor wants more information about how Syrians are resettled.

Lancaster County has already welcomed a handful of Syrian refugees this year.

“Lancaster has been a destination for refugees for quite a long time. This is nothing new,” Christine Baer, congregational resource developer for Church World Service in Lancaster, said in September.

“The difference is, through the years, the world’s conflicts change and, consequently, the waves of refugees needing resettlement ... always is changing and shifting,” she said.

President Barack Obama also said Monday he remains committed to taking in 10,000 Syrian refugees this fiscal year, as long as they are properly vetted.

“As president, my first priority is the safety of the American people, and that's why even as we accept more refugees, including Syrians, we do so only after subjecting them to rigorous screening and security checks,” he said during a press conference Monday after the G-20 summit in Turkey.

“Many of these refugees are the victims of terrorism themselves,” Obama said.

“That's what they're fleeing,” he said. “Slamming the door in their faces would be a betrayal of our values. Our nations can welcome refugees who are desperately seeking safety and ensure our own security. We can and must do both.”

Some Republican lawmakers have said the U.S. should only admit Christian Syrians, closing the door to those of other faiths. Obama disagreed, noting that this country — unlike the Islamic State — is open to people of all religions.

“That's shameful,” the president said. “That's not American. That's not who we are. We don't have religious tests to our compassion.”

Obama’s plan to welcome Syrian refugees is part of a larger plan to eventually take in 85,000 refugees.

Refugees who move to the U.S. are typically vetted both by the government and the United Nations Refugee Agency. The process takes 18 to 24 months.

A number of Republicans fear the policy risks admitting members of the Islamic State.

A Syrian passport registered on the Greek island of Leros was found next to the body of one of the suicide bombers in Paris. That suggests the holder came into Europe claiming to be a political refugee.

According to a report by Bloomberg Politics, the governors’ statements don’t carry much weight.

The federal government and the nine resettlement agencies it contracts with determine whether refugees enter the U.S. and where they settle, Melanie Nezer of HIAS, a Jewish nonprofit group that works with refugees, told Bloomberg.

The U.S. State Department determines how many refugees will be accepted from which countries, and Homeland Security does an extensive screening to make the final decisions about which ones are allowed in, Nezer said.

The resettlement agencies then decide the best place to place the refugees, typically where family members are already living, if medical treatment or other services are needed, and where there is capacity, she said. The federal government reimburses states for housing, education and other costs, she said.

“It’s really hard to see exactly what this is other than political,” Nezer said.

[DaveA37]

“Pennsylvania, Gov. Tom Wolf”.............

Is a complete IDIOT!

[Zuben Elgenubi]

Lancaster has been a destination for refugees for quite a long time.

Aren't the Amish concentrated in Lancaster?

[Mouton]

Gov Scott in Fl just said we are NOT accepting the 415 currently scheduled to come here at the moment, albeit we have a ton here already.

Is there anyway the country can keep the Kenyan refugee out on his return to DC??

[AlaskaErik]

News flash, gov...those are not families coming here, they’re primarily military age males.

[Buckeye Battle Cry]

Philadelphia is nice this time of year.

[IrishBrigade]

Lancaster has been a destination for refugees for quite a long time.

Great...now all I have to do is look out my window, and there they are...

This state is...well, my wife is Pa born and bred so I’ll just tone down my rhetoric...

[Carriage Hill]

"Refugees who move to the U.S. are typically vetted both by the government and the United Nations Refugee Agency. The process takes 18 to 24 months."

So vetting a 3rd world tribal only takes 18-24hrs, but getting vetted for a CCW take 1-2 weeks and a BATF Class III Tax Stamp takes 6-8-10 months?

[Aut Pax Aut Bellum]

Tom Wolf, the pale version of Obama...

[MeganC]

It would serve Tom Wolfe right if one of those Syrians comes along and kills him and his family.

[sneakers]

Our governor is an idiot.

[Safetgiver]

Tommie The Commie. Sheesh! He must be getting a LOT of money from the State Dpt. When we start shooting them.....

[Safetgiver]

Yes, and they have guns also.

[Rodamala]

There are “Amish Amish” (as opposed to “FR Amish”), all over the state. Lancaster County, Out here in Warren County, Down in Venango County... and around State College too.

[shankbear]

I hate to say it but you deserve whatever you get. Forewarned is forearmed.

[thouworm]

ping......

UNHCR data confirms it: 75% of the so-called refugees arriving in Europe are MEN
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Radical Islam and Immigration to France...and the United States

By Andrew C. McCarthy — November 14, 2015

At PJMedia, I’ve run an excerpt from Islam and Free Speech, the "Broadside" I did for Encounter Books earlier this year after the Charlie Hebdo massacre and related terror attacks.

The excerpt explores how France became such an inviting target of the jihad, homing in on immigration and radical Islam's "voluntary apartheid" strategy to establish assimilation-resistant sharia enclaves.

Apropos of that, two news items:

1. In summer 2014, Newsweek reported on polling that indicated one in six French citizens, or 16 percent, sympathizes with ISIS. The ISIS approval number spikes to 27 percent (over one in four) in the fighting-age demographic, ages 18 to 24.

2. Last week, the first of what the Obama administration promises will be tens of thousands more Syrian refugees began arriving in New Orleans. A large percentage of the refugees are fighting age men. In the chaos of the Syrian civil war, there is no way that the refugees could have been vetted to weed out all possible jihadists. The administration's plan is to settle the refugees in about 180 cities and towns across the United States.

[oldmomster]

People in PA are in denial - they think all the bad stuff happens in the cities, and nothing bad could ever happen in nice quiet farm country. They just arent paying attention to the license plates on the cars, the aggressiveness of the people shopping in the stores.

Gov. Wolf is an idiot. People here are still voting for their daddy’s democrat party - with those good union jobs - that don’t exist anymore.

[moehoward]

Ironic stats there. It’s pretty much the breakdown of the Paris terrorists.

[Catsrus]

Yeah, they voted out their Republican Governor. What’s wrong with the people of PA?

[zzeeman]

Thanks for the heads up, just found this:

Gov. Scott: Florida will not support Syrian refugees

http://www.firstcoastnews.com/story/news/local/florida/2015/11/16/governor-scott-florida-syrian-refugees/75879400/