Branstad urges caution in accepting refugees

[cigaretteman]

At least he hasn't said he will block them outright, so I'll give him credit for that:

Iowa Gov. Terry Branstad on Monday called for caution in admitting Syrian war refugees into the state following a series of deadly terrorist attacks in Paris.

Branstad said he does not know whether the state has the power to block the resettlement of refugees, but he urged greater cooperation between state and federal authorities to ensure terrorists are not admitted into the country.

“I share the concern of the other governors about the safety and well-being of our citizens after what we saw happen in Paris,” he said. “We don’t want to become like Europe where they let all these refugees in, and now they’re faced with sending their police out to try to find out and round up the dangerous embedded ISIS militants that are part of it.”

The comments come following news that one of the men who helped carry out the Paris attacks was found with a Syrian passport, indicating that he may have entered the country embedded in a group of displaced refugees.

At least nine governors — including Republican presidential candidate and Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal — have said they will block any federal effort to relocate Syrian refugees in their states. The other states are Alabama, Arkansas, Illinois, Indiana, Massachusetts, Michigan, Mississippi and Texas.

Branstad stopped short of refusing refugees, saying it's a federal program. He instead focused on the need to ensure a careful screening process and open and transparent communication with the federal government about who is admitted into the country and where they're placed.

“I don’t want people coming here without very careful vetting to make sure that there’s no likelihood that they could have been radicalized or could be part of an ISIS operation,” he said.

He also expressed concern that refugees admitted to other states would be free to cross borders into Iowa and elsewhere.

John Wilken, bureau chief of Iowa's Bureau of Refugee Resettlement in the Department of Human Services, said he's not aware of any Syrians who have been admitted to the state, nor is he aware of any who have resettled in Iowa after being admitted into other states.

In the next year, Iowa originally was expecting to admit 800 refugees from around the globe. But after President Barack Obama called to increase the number of refugees admitted into the country by 10,000 during the next fiscal year, Wilken said there could be an additional 100 to 120 people brought into Iowa.

He said it's unclear where those people are from. Currently, the majority of refugees who settle in Iowa come from Burma, Bhutan and Iraq, and they are coming to Iowa because they have family members already here. He said he is also unaware of any Syrian communities in the state that would draw refugees to Iowa from other places in the country.

Peviously, Branstad said he thinks welcoming displaced Syrians to Iowa is a good thing, provided they are carefully vetted and documented.

“I think Iowans are very open and accepting to immigrants in situations like this,” he said in September.

Obama said Monday that, despite the attacks, he plans to move forward with plans to admit into the country a greater number of refugees.

"We also have to remember that many of these refugees are the victims of terrorism themselves. That's what they're fleeing. Slamming the door in their faces would be a betrayal of our values," Obama said in Turkey on Monday, USA Today reports. "Our nations can welcome refugees who are desperately seeking safety and ensure our own security. We can and must do both."

Obama also condemned comments made by Republican presidential candidates calling for only Christian refugees to be admitted into the country.

"That’s shameful. That’s not American, it’s not who we are," he said. "We don’t have religious tests to our compassion."

http://www.desmoinesregister.com/st...ad-urges-caution-accepting-refugees/75877326/

 

[22*43*51]

Prudent. Even prior to the events in Paris.

 

[Vroom_C14]

Put them all in your house ciggy, guard them with your life. If they get out I hold you and all who allow them in directly responsible for any actions they carry out.

 

[pablow]

How in the world do you vet these immigrants to determine who are ISIS members?

 

[86Hawkeye]

How in the world do you vet these immigrants to determine who are ISIS members?

Good question.

Shouldn't security of the homeland take precedence over letting people into the country?

 

[lucas80]

Why take people from Iraq? Does IS have boundaries? Why allow anyone to emigrate from Saudi Arabia? Remember 9/11?
The one thing Republicans won't discuss is how easy they've made it for a terrorist to get weapons in the US if they did sneak in here.

 

[Hawkeyenuts66]

KCRG is reporting that Iowa has put a halt on Syrian refugees entering the state.

 

[cigaretteman]

KCRG is reporting that Iowa has put a halt on Syrian refugees entering the state.

Yeah, I take back the credit I gave him originally. Way to let the terrorists win Terry!:


Iowa Gov. Terry Branstad, after initially expressing doubts about his ability to limit Syrian refugees from coming to the state, said late Monday that he is stopping their resettlement.

Branstad joined about a dozen other Republican governors who were moving to close their states’ borders to Syrian refugees in the wake of the Paris attacks on Friday.

In a statement Monday afternoon, the governor said until the intelligence community conducts a thorough review “and the safety of Iowans can be assured,” the federal government shouldn’t send refugees to the state.

“We have welcomed refugees from around the world into Iowa,” Branstad said. “We must continue to have compassion for others, but we must also maintain the safety of Iowans and the security of our state.”

The governor’s actions were somewhat of a turnabout from earlier in the day, when he expressed doubts about a state’s ability to stop the federal government from resettling refugees.

“I don’t know that the states have the authority to decide whether or not we can take refugees. This is a federal program,” Branstad said earlier Monday at his weekly news conference.

Several governors across the country moved Monday to stop the resettlement of refugees in their states, including Nebraska Gov. Pete Ricketts.

In a letter, Ricketts asked resettlement agencies in Nebraska to decline to participate in potential resettlement efforts.

“Nebraska is a welcoming place for families seeking a home to live, work, and raise a family,” the governor said. “While I understand the danger and persecution many are facing in the Middle East, it is important that our state and our nation consider the safety and security of Nebraskans and Americans first in any refugee resettlement efforts.”

The actions of the governors sparked a dispute about whether states have the authority to stop resettlement of refugees from the war-torn country.

Rauner’s office cited regulations pertaining to federal refugee resettlement programs that it says give the governor the authority to evaluate and revise the state’s involvement in such efforts.

Critics of the governors’ actions, however, said they are overstepping their bounds.

Lee Williams, vice president and chief financial officer for the Arlington, Virginia-based U.S. Committee for Refugees and Immigrants, said the power resides with the federal government, citing the U.S. Constitution and the Refugee Act of 1980, which created the federal refugee resettlement program.

Williams also said people shouldn’t be overly concerned about security.

“There’s an incredibly robust security vetting process,” he said. He said that the process takes, on average, 18 months to two years.

The Paris shooting and questions over whether to accept people fleeing war-torn Syria also extended to the White House and presidential campaign trail.

President Barack Obama said Monday that the U.S. would continue accepting refugees, saying failing to do so would be “a betrayal of our values.”

Meanwhile, Republican presidential candidate Mike Huckabee called Obama’s response to the situation “wimpish and amateurish,” and he said if House Speaker Paul Ryan can’t stop the refugees from coming to the U.S. “without assurances that we can separate refugees from terrorists,” he should step down.

On the other side, Democratic hopeful Martin O’Malley responded to the governors’ actions by saying, “Keeping America safe and staying true to who we are as a people is not a zero-sum choice. Real leaders don’t throw our values to the wind in the face of fear.”

http://www.nonpareilonline.com/news...cle_91fbbc84-cb0e-54f4-a4f9-9181d50dfa2f.html

 

[22*43*51]

The one thing Republicans won't discuss is how easy they've made it for a terrorist to get weapons in the US if they did sneak in here.

That's a great gun control angle for the left.

Let terrorists into the country. When there is a tragedy, blame it on the 2nd amendment.

Very crafty.

 

[cigaretteman]

Good column on this in the Register today:

The terrorists won in Iowa Monday.

That’s how I felt after Gov. Terry Branstad decided to block resettlement of Syrian refugees in the state.

He joined a growing number of governors nationwide who rashly lumped in the Syrian refugees with terrorists who may have sneaked in with refugee groups to carry out the attacks that killed at least 129 people last week at Paris sporting venues, restaurants and a concert hall.

Branstad, like the other governors, used the specter of “safety and security” in halting Syrian refugee settlements to Iowa.

It’s an easy move to make. That's because Branstad and the other governors can’t tell the difference between a refugee and a terrorist. They all look the same.
http://www.desmoinesregister.com/st.../75877326/?from=global&sessionKey=&autologin=
So to be on the safe side, we’ll just assume they’re all terrorists and keep them out.

The problem is that being a refugee no more means you're a potential terrorist than being a gun owner means you're a potential mass murderer.

The United Nations gives refugee status to people who’ve been forced from their native land and have no hope of returning home. Note the words “no hope.”

Refugees are interviewed. Their backgrounds are checked. They are not allowed to resettle overseas except in the direst circumstances.

In the 1970s, when Cambodian dictator Pol Pot and his Khmer Rouge murdered as many as 3 million of his own people, many of those who fled the country were not given refugee status.

Instead, the U.N. classified them as “displaced persons.” The Cambodians lived in camps along the border of Thailand until the Khmer Rouge was defeated and Pol Pot died in isolation. They were cared for and fed.

It’s important to note that Cambodians weren’t considered a threat to other nations. Rather, their chances of having a successful resettlement elsewhere were very low.

They were poor farmers with little education. They did not have the tools to go from the Third World to the First World.

The U.N. gave many Syrians refugee status. That means not only do the people have no hope of going home, there’s also no border camps to care for them.

But with overseas resettlement, Syrian refugees also have a strong chance of thriving.

Alas, we are Americans. We live in what the late Hunter S. Thompson so accurately described as the “Kingdom of Fear.”

We freak out whenever a snowstorm approaches in the winter. Did you see all the cancellations and nail-biting when we had strong winds a few days ago?

How could we possibly be expected to handle something as important as a refugee crisis?

Terrorism thrives when we’re too afraid to act on our own values. And clearly the terrorist rampage in Paris worked. It worked all the way to Terrace Hill.

The crisis in Syria is a direct impact of the U.S.-led war in Iraq. Former U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell warned us about war in Iraq with his “Pottery Barn rule.”

“You break it, you bought it.”

He was half right. We broke it. But we’re done paying for it.

It’s somebody else’s problem. Keep “those people” over there.


Our governors didn't always act with such fear. When the Vietnam War ended, then-Gov. Bob Ray welcomed scores of refugees to the state. We sent aid in money and people to displaced Cambodians.

That's the worst part of Branstad’s decision. It turns our back on Iowa's tradition of welcoming refugees.

Oh, make no mistake, people were against helping in the 1970s, too, even sending aid.

They thought the refugees would take our jobs. They would change our way of life. (They did. For the better.)

Ray’s own church, the Disciples of Christ Church, opposed getting involved in sending aid to Cambodians. It was too politically sensitive an issue, the church leaders said.

Ray traveled to the church’s convention in St. Louis and gave the finest speech of his long, storied career. He noted Missouri’s state motto was the “Show Me State.”

Ray believed there was a moral imperative to the slogan.

“Don’t tell me of your concerns for these people when you have a chance to save their lives,” Ray said. “Show me. Don’t tell me how Christian you are. Show me.”

Keeping Syrian refugees out of Iowa doesn't make us one lick safer.

The scary truth is we’re just as vulnerable to terrorists as the Parisians.

No policy, no xenophobia and no amount of wealth and military might will ever prevent a bad person or a group of bad people from killing.

At least, that’s the argument we use after every mass shooting in this country.

We ought to keep showing humanitarian compassion despite the terror the way Ray taught us to.

Of course, Ray was always a more reasonable man than Branstad.

Former Iowa Lt. Gov. Art Neu, a Republican, once told me Ray wouldn’t make it out of a Republican primary today. He’d be considered too liberal.

Ray always believed we should show kindness to those who struggle. When running for his first term in 1968, someone asked Ray if he would support a plan to cut welfare benefits to women who had more than one child out of wedlock. Ray said he wouldn’t.

And his response should be the boilerplate for how any leader, including Branstad, handles matters of charity.

Ray said, “Heaven help us when we don’t have enough compassion to help those who need it.”

http://www.desmoinesregister.com/st...ads-syrian-refugee-ban-betrays-iowa/75899710/

 

[HawktimusPrime]

Put them all in your house ciggy, guard them with your life. If they get out I hold you and all who allow them in directly responsible for any actions they carry out.

Exactly, I expect Ciggy to feed, them clothe, them and to be fully responsible for those that end up causing trouble.

 

[HawktimusPrime]

Good column on this in the Register today:

The terrorists won in Iowa Monday.

That’s how I felt after Gov. Terry Branstad decided to block resettlement of Syrian refugees in the state.

He joined a growing number of governors nationwide who rashly lumped in the Syrian refugees with terrorists who may have sneaked in with refugee groups to carry out the attacks that killed at least 129 people last week at Paris sporting venues, restaurants and a concert hall.

Branstad, like the other governors, used the specter of “safety and security” in halting Syrian refugee settlements to Iowa.

It’s an easy move to make. That's because Branstad and the other governors can’t tell the difference between a refugee and a terrorist. They all look the same.
So to be on the safe side, we’ll just assume they’re all terrorists and keep them out.

The problem is that being a refugee no more means you're a potential terrorist than being a gun owner means you're a potential mass murderer.

The United Nations gives refugee status to people who’ve been forced from their native land and have no hope of returning home. Note the words “no hope.”

Refugees are interviewed. Their backgrounds are checked. They are not allowed to resettle overseas except in the direst circumstances.

In the 1970s, when Cambodian dictator Pol Pot and his Khmer Rouge murdered as many as 3 million of his own people, many of those who fled the country were not given refugee status.

Instead, the U.N. classified them as “displaced persons.” The Cambodians lived in camps along the border of Thailand until the Khmer Rouge was defeated and Pol Pot died in isolation. They were cared for and fed.

It’s important to note that Cambodians weren’t considered a threat to other nations. Rather, their chances of having a successful resettlement elsewhere were very low.

They were poor farmers with little education. They did not have the tools to go from the Third World to the First World.

The U.N. gave many Syrians refugee status. That means not only do the people have no hope of going home, there’s also no border camps to care for them.

But with overseas resettlement, Syrian refugees also have a strong chance of thriving.

Alas, we are Americans. We live in what the late Hunter S. Thompson so accurately described as the “Kingdom of Fear.”

We freak out whenever a snowstorm approaches in the winter. Did you see all the cancellations and nail-biting when we had strong winds a few days ago?

How could we possibly be expected to handle something as important as a refugee crisis?

Terrorism thrives when we’re too afraid to act on our own values. And clearly the terrorist rampage in Paris worked. It worked all the way to Terrace Hill.

The crisis in Syria is a direct impact of the U.S.-led war in Iraq. Former U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell warned us about war in Iraq with his “Pottery Barn rule.”

“You break it, you bought it.”

He was half right. We broke it. But we’re done paying for it.

It’s somebody else’s problem. Keep “those people” over there.


Our governors didn't always act with such fear. When the Vietnam War ended, then-Gov. Bob Ray welcomed scores of refugees to the state. We sent aid in money and people to displaced Cambodians.

That's the worst part of Branstad’s decision. It turns our back on Iowa's tradition of welcoming refugees.

Oh, make no mistake, people were against helping in the 1970s, too, even sending aid.

They thought the refugees would take our jobs. They would change our way of life. (They did. For the better.)

Ray’s own church, the Disciples of Christ Church, opposed getting involved in sending aid to Cambodians. It was too politically sensitive an issue, the church leaders said.

Ray traveled to the church’s convention in St. Louis and gave the finest speech of his long, storied career. He noted Missouri’s state motto was the “Show Me State.”

Ray believed there was a moral imperative to the slogan.

“Don’t tell me of your concerns for these people when you have a chance to save their lives,” Ray said. “Show me. Don’t tell me how Christian you are. Show me.”

Keeping Syrian refugees out of Iowa doesn't make us one lick safer.

The scary truth is we’re just as vulnerable to terrorists as the Parisians.

No policy, no xenophobia and no amount of wealth and military might will ever prevent a bad person or a group of bad people from killing.

At least, that’s the argument we use after every mass shooting in this country.

We ought to keep showing humanitarian compassion despite the terror the way Ray taught us to.

Of course, Ray was always a more reasonable man than Branstad.

Former Iowa Lt. Gov. Art Neu, a Republican, once told me Ray wouldn’t make it out of a Republican primary today. He’d be considered too liberal.

Ray always believed we should show kindness to those who struggle. When running for his first term in 1968, someone asked Ray if he would support a plan to cut welfare benefits to women who had more than one child out of wedlock. Ray said he wouldn’t.

And his response should be the boilerplate for how any leader, including Branstad, handles matters of charity.

Ray said, “Heaven help us when we don’t have enough compassion to help those who need it.”

http://www.desmoinesregister.com/st...ads-syrian-refugee-ban-betrays-iowa/75899710/

Ciggy, we don't know who these people are. Regardless of whether Syrians were involved in the Paris attacks, we have no idea who they are. It's just not logical to let that many people in without us knowing who were are letting in.

If you feel so strongly about it, then do something besides sit here and copy and paste.

 

[HawktimusPrime]

KCRG is reporting that Iowa has put a halt on Syrian refugees entering the state.

It's our state right to do this. Anyone who has a problem with that, obviously has a problem with goverments decisions. Which is funny, because the usual suspects just love it when the government makes decisions in any other case.

 

[Hawkeyenuts66]

It's our state right to do this. Anyone who has a problem with that, obviously has a problem with goverments decisions. Which is funny, because the usual suspects just love it when the government makes decisions in any other case.

I totally agree, I'm glad the TB is following suit with the others. As for Ciggy's normal cut an paste antics, that's BAU.

 

[THE_DEVIL]

He also expressed concern that refugees admitted to other states would be free to cross borders into Iowa and elsewhere.

First they came for the Socialists, and I did not speak out—
Because I was not a Socialist.

Then they came for the Trade Unionists, and I did not speak out—
Because I was not a Trade Unionist.

Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out—
Because I was not a Jew.

Then they came for me—and there was no one left to speak for me

 

[HawktimusPrime]

He also expressed concern that refugees admitted to other states would be free to cross borders into Iowa and elsewhere.

First they came for the Socialists, and I did not speak out—
Because I was not a Socialist.

Then they came for the Trade Unionists, and I did not speak out—
Because I was not a Trade Unionist.

Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out—
Because I was not a Jew.

Then they came for me—and there was no one left to speak for me

Open up your wallet, clean out your extra rooms, and be the humanitarian you claim to be. At this time, it is just too dangerous to allow this. We don't know who we are letting in.

 

[THE_DEVIL]

Open up your wallet, clean out your extra rooms, and be the humanitarian you claim to be. At this time, it is just too dangerous to allow this. We don't know who we are letting in.

Irrational fear makes for a feeble existence.

 

[HawktimusPrime]

Irrational fear makes for a feeble existence.

You're afraid of mother nature. Mother nature has always been here. Deal with her. I'm not afraid, I'm just not ignorant enough to believe that this can't possibly turn into something bad.

 

[THE_DEVIL]

You're afraid of mother nature. Mother nature has always been here. Deal with her. I'm not afraid, I'm just not ignorant enough to believe that this can't possibly turn into something bad.

wtf?

 

[hawkeye54545]

LOL at any of you thinking Ciggy can afford or would accept any refugees. He expects others to take care of that. He'd rather tell you how to live your life before taking any responsibility.

 

[22*43*51]

Good column on this in the Register today:

The terrorists won in Iowa Monday.

That’s how I felt after Gov. Terry Branstad decided to block resettlement of Syrian refugees in the state.

He joined a growing number of governors nationwide who rashly lumped in the Syrian refugees with terrorists who may have sneaked in with refugee groups to carry out the attacks that killed at least 129 people last week at Paris sporting venues, restaurants and a concert hall.

Branstad, like the other governors, used the specter of “safety and security” in halting Syrian refugee settlements to Iowa.

It’s an easy move to make. That's because Branstad and the other governors can’t tell the difference between a refugee and a terrorist. They all look the same.
So to be on the safe side, we’ll just assume they’re all terrorists and keep them out.

The problem is that being a refugee no more means you're a potential terrorist than being a gun owner means you're a potential mass murderer.

The United Nations gives refugee status to people who’ve been forced from their native land and have no hope of returning home. Note the words “no hope.”

Refugees are interviewed. Their backgrounds are checked. They are not allowed to resettle overseas except in the direst circumstances.

In the 1970s, when Cambodian dictator Pol Pot and his Khmer Rouge murdered as many as 3 million of his own people, many of those who fled the country were not given refugee status.

Instead, the U.N. classified them as “displaced persons.” The Cambodians lived in camps along the border of Thailand until the Khmer Rouge was defeated and Pol Pot died in isolation. They were cared for and fed.

It’s important to note that Cambodians weren’t considered a threat to other nations. Rather, their chances of having a successful resettlement elsewhere were very low.

They were poor farmers with little education. They did not have the tools to go from the Third World to the First World.

The U.N. gave many Syrians refugee status. That means not only do the people have no hope of going home, there’s also no border camps to care for them.

But with overseas resettlement, Syrian refugees also have a strong chance of thriving.

Alas, we are Americans. We live in what the late Hunter S. Thompson so accurately described as the “Kingdom of Fear.”

We freak out whenever a snowstorm approaches in the winter. Did you see all the cancellations and nail-biting when we had strong winds a few days ago?

How could we possibly be expected to handle something as important as a refugee crisis?

Terrorism thrives when we’re too afraid to act on our own values. And clearly the terrorist rampage in Paris worked. It worked all the way to Terrace Hill.

The crisis in Syria is a direct impact of the U.S.-led war in Iraq. Former U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell warned us about war in Iraq with his “Pottery Barn rule.”

“You break it, you bought it.”

He was half right. We broke it. But we’re done paying for it.

It’s somebody else’s problem. Keep “those people” over there.


Our governors didn't always act with such fear. When the Vietnam War ended, then-Gov. Bob Ray welcomed scores of refugees to the state. We sent aid in money and people to displaced Cambodians.

That's the worst part of Branstad’s decision. It turns our back on Iowa's tradition of welcoming refugees.

Oh, make no mistake, people were against helping in the 1970s, too, even sending aid.

They thought the refugees would take our jobs. They would change our way of life. (They did. For the better.)

Ray’s own church, the Disciples of Christ Church, opposed getting involved in sending aid to Cambodians. It was too politically sensitive an issue, the church leaders said.

Ray traveled to the church’s convention in St. Louis and gave the finest speech of his long, storied career. He noted Missouri’s state motto was the “Show Me State.”

Ray believed there was a moral imperative to the slogan.

“Don’t tell me of your concerns for these people when you have a chance to save their lives,” Ray said. “Show me. Don’t tell me how Christian you are. Show me.”

Keeping Syrian refugees out of Iowa doesn't make us one lick safer.

The scary truth is we’re just as vulnerable to terrorists as the Parisians.

No policy, no xenophobia and no amount of wealth and military might will ever prevent a bad person or a group of bad people from killing.

At least, that’s the argument we use after every mass shooting in this country.

We ought to keep showing humanitarian compassion despite the terror the way Ray taught us to.

Of course, Ray was always a more reasonable man than Branstad.

Former Iowa Lt. Gov. Art Neu, a Republican, once told me Ray wouldn’t make it out of a Republican primary today. He’d be considered too liberal.

Ray always believed we should show kindness to those who struggle. When running for his first term in 1968, someone asked Ray if he would support a plan to cut welfare benefits to women who had more than one child out of wedlock. Ray said he wouldn’t.

And his response should be the boilerplate for how any leader, including Branstad, handles matters of charity.

Ray said, “Heaven help us when we don’t have enough compassion to help those who need it.”

http://www.desmoinesregister.com/st...ads-syrian-refugee-ban-betrays-iowa/75899710/

The Register with a miss again.

It's not a terrorist thing. We have an Executive Ordered open border policy right now that needs to be curtailed.

Syrians are just the latest group that we have rolled out the Red carpet to.

We don't have any idea how to pay for them, or Mexicans, or Central Americans, or South Americans either.

 

[Vroom_C14]

I wrote\emailed Branstad expressing my concern with the taking in of refugees. Here is the response.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
Dear Aaron,

Thank you for contacting the Governor's office and expressing your concerns about Syrian refugees being placed in Iowa, which has a history of being a welcoming state.

However, in light of the recent acts of terrorism in Paris, Governor Branstad and Lt. Governor Reynolds have told the federal government that the State of Iowa is halting any work on Syrian refugee resettlements happening in the state.

In the past the federal government has failed to be forthcoming and transparent with information on refugee resettlement and immigration issues. Governor Branstad's first priority is to ensure the safety of Iowans. Until the intelligence community can provide a thorough and thoughtful review of refugee background checks and security protocols the federal government should not resettle any refugees in the State of Iowa.

Again, thank you for contacting Governor Branstad's office. If you have further questions or concerns, please contact us by calling 515-281-5211.

 

[HawktimusPrime]

I wrote\emailed Branstad expressing my concern with the taking in of refugees. Here is the response.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
Dear Aaron,

Thank you for contacting the Governor's office and expressing your concerns about Syrian refugees being placed in Iowa, which has a history of being a welcoming state.

However, in light of the recent acts of terrorism in Paris, Governor Branstad and Lt. Governor Reynolds have told the federal government that the State of Iowa is halting any work on Syrian refugee resettlements happening in the state.

In the past the federal government has failed to be forthcoming and transparent with information on refugee resettlement and immigration issues. Governor Branstad's first priority is to ensure the safety of Iowans. Until the intelligence community can provide a thorough and thoughtful review of refugee background checks and security protocols the federal government should not resettle any refugees in the State of Iowa.

Again, thank you for contacting Governor Branstad's office. If you have further questions or concerns, please contact us by calling 515-281-5211.

Say what you want about Branstad, I'm not a big fan to be honest, but he's correct here. If the states decide they don't want to deal with this, then that is their right.

It's exactly how Government is structured to work, so I don't see any reason the libs should have an issue with this. This is that Democracy thing working how it should.

 

[IACub]

The Register with a miss again.

It's not a terrorist thing. We have an Executive Ordered open border policy right now that needs to be curtailed.

Syrians are just the latest group that we have rolled out the Red carpet to.

We don't have any idea how to pay for them, or Mexicans, or Central Americans, or South Americans either.

You're right, screw those brown people. I notice you don't complain about all the Croatian immigrants in Des Moines. Some of them are even Muslims! But they're white, so it's cool, right?

 

[HawktimusPrime]

You're right, screw those brown people. I notice you don't complain about all the Croatian immigrants in Des Moines. Some of them are even Muslims! But they're white, so it's cool, right?

Syrian refugees are a threat, because of what is going on there. Again, all the libs should put their money where their mouths are, and do their part to fund, supervise, and enforce this.

What will you do for your part in this? What are you willing to sacrifice?

 

[22*43*51]

You're right, screw those brown people. I notice you don't complain about all the Croatian immigrants in Des Moines. Some of them are even Muslims! But they're white, so it's cool, right?

 

[IACub]

Syrian refugees are a threat, because of what is going on there. Again, all the libs should put their money where their mouths are, and do their part to fund, supervise, and enforce this.

What will you do for your part in this? What are you willing to sacrifice?

That's not how government works. But if you must know, I have donated to Syrian refugee causes, including helping to raise money and donating personally for medical equipment in a refugee settlement.

 

[22*43*51]

That's not how government works. But if you must know, I have donated to Syrian refugee causes, including helping to raise money and donating personally for medical equipment in a refugee settlement.

 

[IACub]

At least I don't sit behind a keyboard and hate all day. I was asked what I would do and I answered the question. If you don't like people helping other people, I guess you can always find a sarcastic meme.

 

[86Hawkeye]

How in the world do you vet these immigrants to determine who are ISIS members?

Oh, it's simple:

FBI Director James Comey hit on the issue at a congressional hearing last month, when he told lawmakers, "If someone has never made a ripple in the pond in Syria in a way that would get their identity or their interest reflected in our database, we can query our database until the cows come home, but there will be nothing show up because we have no record of them."

 

[pablow]

Oh, it's simple:

FBI Director James Comey hit on the issue at a congressional hearing last month, when he told lawmakers, "If someone has never made a ripple in the pond in Syria in a way that would get their identity or their interest reflected in our database, we can query our database until the cows come home, but there will be nothing show up because we have no record of them."

Bingo.

 

[86Hawkeye]

Irrational fear makes for a feeble existence.

FBI Director James Comey hit on the issue at a congressional hearing last month, when he told lawmakers, "If someone has never made a ripple in the pond in Syria in a way that would get their identity or their interest reflected in our database, we can query our database until the cows come home, but there will be nothing show up because we have no record of them."

 

[Vroom_C14]

At least I don't sit behind a keyboard and hate all day. I was asked what I would do and I answered the question. If you don't like people helping other people, I guess you can always find a sarcastic meme.

Am all for sending aide, etc. Not for bringing potential terrorists to my doorstep or yours. The Croatians you speak of, have there been terrorists found amongst them (regardless of skin color)?

 

[22*43*51]

At least I don't sit behind a keyboard and hate all day. I was asked what I would do and I answered the question. If you don't like people helping other people, I guess you can always find a sarcastic meme.

I don't either.

It would appear that you are comfortable sitting behind a computer labeling and making assumptions all day though.

 

[IACub]

Am all for sending aide, etc. Not for bringing potential terrorists to my doorstep or yours. The Croatians you speak of, have there been terrorists found amongst them (regardless of skin color)?

Here? No. Have there been acts of terror by Croats against the US? Absolutely. And that's the #*&%ing point! We didn't assume all Croatians were terrorists just because of where they were from and who they worshipped. We let them come to Iowa, and they've become members of our society with different accents than ours.

 

[Vroom_C14]

Here? No. Have there been acts of terror by Croats against the US? Absolutely. And that's the #*&%ing point! We didn't assume all Croatians were terrorists just because of where they were from and who they worshipped. We let them come to Iowa, and they've become members of our society with different accents than ours.

You are missing "the #*&%ing point". The Syrian refugees have embedded threats. The Croats did\do not.

 

[IACub]

You are missing "the #*&%ing point". The Syrian refugees have embedded threats. The Croats did\do not.

Where is the proof of any embedded threats? All I've seen was one of the terrorists had a Syrian passport that they now think is probably fake. All the other terrorists in Paris were homegrown from EU countries.

 

[Vroom_C14]

Where is the proof of any embedded threats? All I've seen was one of the terrorists had a Syrian passport that they now think is probably fake. All the other terrorists in Paris were homegrown from EU countries.

"One of the men who attacked Paris held an emergency passport or similar document, according to an unnamed French senator who was briefed by the French Ministry of the Interior. The senator told CNN the bomber falsely declared himself to be a Syrian named Ahmad al Muhammad, born on September 10, 1990, and was allowed to enter Greece on October 3. From there he moved to Macedonia, then Serbia and Croatia, where he registered in the Opatovac refugee camp, the lawmaker said. Eventually, he made his way to Paris, where he was one of three men who blew themselves up at the Stade de France.
Fingerprints on the passport matched those of the Stade de France bomber, the French senator told CNN.

The fingerprint was not in the French database, the senator said, and therefore officials believe the man was among a group of refugees and migrants.

The two others who detonated themselves at the stadium carried false Turkish passports, the French senator said."

 

[86Hawkeye]

"One of the men who attacked Paris held an emergency passport or similar document, according to an unnamed French senator who was briefed by the French Ministry of the Interior. The senator told CNN the bomber falsely declared himself to be a Syrian named Ahmad al Muhammad, born on September 10, 1990, and was allowed to enter Greece on October 3. From there he moved to Macedonia, then Serbia and Croatia, where he registered in the Opatovac refugee camp, the lawmaker said. Eventually, he made his way to Paris, where he was one of three men who blew themselves up at the Stade de France.
Fingerprints on the passport matched those of the Stade de France bomber, the French senator told CNN.

The fingerprint was not in the French database, the senator said, and therefore officials believe the man was among a group of refugees and migrants.

Interesting that the FBI Director said the databases we had in Iraq were much more extensive, until we left, and now we don't have as much information. There's no way to adequately screen all 10,000 Syrians that Obama plans to let in to the US next year. Of course, there's no way to know if the databases we had in Iraq would catch someone either. Why risk it?

http://dailycaller.com/2015/10/21/f...et-all-syrian-refugees-for-terror-ties-video/

 

[Greenway12]

Wonder how many refugees the gov't is planning on placing in Hollywood or DC or Manhattan?