Partisan battle lines drawn on Syrian refugees

Lawmakers are drawing partisan battle lines over the Obama administration’s call to allow tens of thousands of Syrian refugees into the U.S.

In a Senate Judiciary subcommittee hearing on Thursday, multiple Republicans appeared skeptical of the administration’s plans to fully vet the new refugees headed toward the U.S. and worried about the strain on American resources.

{mosads}“We just need to be aware that when we talk about the cost of the program — and we have a billion-dollar cost — we’re not talking about the new stress on Medicaid, food stamps, hospitals, the housing allowances that they may be entitled to and other costs of that kind,” said Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-Ala.), the head of the immigration subcommittee and a critic of expanded immigration.

“Then we have the difficulty of being able to screen the applicants effectively.”

Democrats, meanwhile, welcomed the administration’s plans and in some instances pushed for the U.S. to open its doors even wider.

“We are talking about real lives and real people,” said Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), who has called for a dramatic expansion in the number of refugees allowed into the U.S.

“Do we have any obligation in the United States to face this? I think we do.”

Thursday’s hearing was the first since the Obama administration announced its intentions to allow at least 85,000 refugees into the U.S. next year — an increase from 70,000 last year — and 100,000 the year after that. Only a fraction of those new immigrants will come from Syria.

The refugee crisis has dominated politics in Europe, but has so far been slow to rear its head on Capitol Hill.

If the Senate subcommittee is any indication, however, the White House plans could face increased scrutiny from Republicans. The decision is largely an administrative one, though Congress can exact demands on the White House through the funding process.

Republicans appear ready to tie the refugee crisis to Democrats’ long-standing push to reform the country’s immigration laws, which was a nonstarter in the current Congress.

Sen. Thom Tillis (R-N.C.) brought up a February incident in which a person who had been granted special immigration status that prevented him from being deported allegedly killed four people in Charlotte, N.C.

“It’s not specific to this, but it speaks to the agencies working together,” he said.

More than 4 million Syrians have fled their home country in the four years since a civil war broke out. The influx of refugees in neighboring countries has led to massive camps that have had strained the governments of Jordan, Turkey and others.  

More recently, streams of people fleeing into Europe have overwhelmed borders and vexed political leaders.

The U.S. has provided the largest amount of financial support to support the Syrian refugees but has only allowed roughly 1,600 into the country.