Press Release
Published on December 1, 2015
Washington, D.C. – A bipartisan group of twenty of the nation’s top national security experts, former government officials, and former military leaders today sent a letter to each Member of Congress expressing their opposition to proposals that would effectively halt the resettlement of Syrian and Iraqi refugees in the United States following the terrorist attacks in Paris.
“The process that refugees undergo in order to be deemed eligible for resettlement in the United States is robust and thorough. They are vetted more intensively than any other category of traveler,” wrote the national security leaders. “We believe that America can and should continue to provide refuge to those fleeing violence and persecution without compromising the security and safety of our nation. To do otherwise would be contrary to our nation’s traditions of openness and inclusivity, and would undermine our core objective of combating terrorism.”
Signatories of today’s letter include:
The national security leaders also expressed serious concern that these proposals would derail or further delay the resettlement of Iraqi refugees who have risked their lives to work with the U.S. military and other American organizations, stating that the United States has a moral obligation to protect them.
“Refugees are victims, not perpetrators, of terrorism. Categorically refusing to take them only feeds the narrative of ISIS that there is a war between Islam and the West, that Muslims are not welcome in the United States and Europe, and that the ISIS caliphate is their true home. We must make clear that the United States rejects this worldview by continuing to offer refuge to the world’s most vulnerable people, regardless of their religion or nationality,” concluded the national security leaders.
