WASHINGTON — Two top Obama administration officials sent a letter to Alabama Governor Robert Bentley on Friday insisting the federal government’s system for vetting Syrian refugees is strong and should not be a point of concern for states that are slated to receive refugees in the coming months. Alabama is expected to receive 100 Syrian refugees, who will be housed by Catholic Social Services in Mobile. In total, the Obama administration is planning to bring into the country 10,000 refugees in the next year.
In Friday’s letter, which was first posted by the Montgomery Advertiser, Secretary of State John Kerry and Secretary of Homeland Security Jeh Johnson said they were writing Governor Bentley “in response to ongoing discussions by governors across the country regarding our refugee resettlement program.”
Governor Bentley was among the first governors in the country to public declare his intension to reject any refugees the federal government tried to place in his state. His decision was in response to concerns over the vetting process refugees go through prior to entering the country. The White House also denied Governor Bentley’s request for classified information on refugees coming to Alabama.
“I will oppose any attempt to relocate Syrian refugees to Alabama through the U.S. Refugee Admissions Program,” Bentley said in a statement at the time. “I will not stand complicit to a policy that places the citizens of Alabama in harm’s way.”
Secretaries Kerry and Johnson sought to assuage those concerns in their letter Friday.
“In short, the security vetting for this population–themost vulnerable of individuals–is extraordinarily thorough and comprehensive,” the two men wrote. “It is the most robust screening process for any catergory of individuals seeking admission into the United States. The process is multi-layered and intensive, involving multiple law enforcement, national security, and intelligence agencies across the Federal Government. Additional precautions have been added with regard to Syrian refugees. We continually evaluate whether more precautions are necessary.”
The letter seems to run contrary to sworn testimony by FBI Director James Comey, who warned the Senate Judiciary Committee in October that his agency was struggling to vet incoming refugees.
Senator Jeff Sessions (R-Ala.) recently sent a letter to his colleagues reminding them of Mr. Comey’s comments.
“In testimony before my Subcommittee, administration officials confirmed that our government has no access to Syrian government data to properly vet refugees and has no capacity to predict whether Syrian refugees are likely to join ISIS, as have many, for example, in Minnesota’s Somali refugee community,” wrote Senator Sessions. “On October 22, 2015, FBI Director James Comey confirmed this in testimony before the House Judiciary Committee, repeatedly stating that the government does not have the resources and lacks the necessary information to fully vet Syrian refugees, and could not offer any assurances that there is no risk associated with admitting these individuals to the country.
“Our track record on screening is very poor,” Sen. Sessions concluded. “My Subcommittee has identified at least 26 foreign-born individuals inside the United States charged with or convicted of terrorism over approximately the last year alone.”
The full letter from Secretaries Kerry and Johnson can be read below.
