Kinzinger Calls for Ceased Flow of Syrian Refugees to U.S. Pending Security Review

Press Release

U.S. Congressman Adam Kinzinger (IL-16) joined a delegation of Members of the U.S. House of Representatives from Illinois calling on President Barack Obama to cease the flow of Syrian and Iraqi refugees into the United States until there is an updated system in place that can verify the background of the refugees and provide absolute certainty that no individual with sympathies to ISIS is allowed into the United States.

French and other European officials have said that at least one attacker used the flow of Syrian refugees to gain entry into the European Union. Senior U.S. government officials have expressed concerns that the flow of Syrian refugees could also be used to enter the United States. In September 2015, Director of National Intelligence James Clapper expressed a "huge concern" that ISIS may attempt to infiltrate Syrian refugees to enter Europe and possibly the United States. In October 2015, FBI Director James Comey expressed concerns about the U.S. government's ability to vet all Syrian refugees.

"My concern there is there are certain gaps ... in the data available to us," Director Comey said at the time. "There is risk associated of bringing anybody in from the outside, but specifically from a conflict zone like that."

Despite these concerns and the Paris terrorist attacks, President Obama has stated that he plans to move forward with his plan to resettle 10,000 Syrian refugees over the next year. Since 2012, the United States has admitted 1,854 Syrian refugees.

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