Syrian refuges are a “very risky proposition” and the U.S. needs a better process for vetting them, House homeland security committee chairman Michael McCaul told a Sarasota audience Monday.
McCaul, a Republican congressman from Texas, criticized President Barack Obama for threatening to veto a bill that would temporarily ban refugees from the Syrian civil war from entering the country. U.S. Rep. Vern Buchanan, R-Longboat Key, echoed McCaul’s statements during a town hall event that drew about 30 people.
“Be compassionate but leave them in that part of the world,” said Buchanan, who invited McCaul to speak in Sarasota.
Thousands of Syrian refugees are expected to be resettled in the U.S. this year, with Florida likely to receive a few hundred.
The House passed a bill with bi-partisan support that would temporarily halt the resettlement until tighter screening procedures are put in place. But Obama threatened a veto and the bill failed to get enough support in the Senate last month.
White House officials defend the screening process for determining whether the refugees have ties to radical groups. Obama has accused GOP critics of over-hyping the threat posed by refugees, saying in November that "we don't make good decisions if it's based on hysteria or an exaggeration of risks."
McCaul and Buchanan also questioned Monday whether the federal government is doing enough to track the social media activity of foreigners entering the country.
“They need to come into the present,” McCaul said, although he added that the government has a number of pilot programs, including one for tracking social media activity of Syrian refugees.
Buchanan has introduced legislation that would require the Department of Homeland Security “to vet all public records, including Facebook and other forms of social media, before allowing foreign travelers into the United States.”
Despite his concerns about the Syrian refugees, McCaul said after the event that he does not support GOP presidential candidate Donald Trump’s proposal to temporarily ban all Muslims from entering the country.
“I don’t think you can ban an entire population and say you can’t come in,” McCaul said, adding Trump’s statement was intended “to get attention and headlines.”
