Senator Bob Casey issues statement on President Trump’s executive order on refugees:

 

“This executive action is contrary to our values and our security. It means turning away children fleeing barrel bombing in Syria, women and girls fleeing human rights violations in Sudan and Somalia, and brave people who risked their lives to work with our troops in Iraq. Preventing these vulnerable people from resettling in the U.S. as refugees does nothing to make our nation safer.  Further, lowering the level of overall resettlement will make it harder on our allies who are already absorbing the bulk of the refugees fleeing conflicts around the world.  This executive action appears to be driven by politics and discrimination, not by recommendations from national security professionals. 

 

Our first priority must be to keep America safe which means destroying terrorist networks wherever they are and ensuring that those offered refugee status go through the most rigorous possible screening. Refugee applicants are subject to the highest level of security checks for any category of traveler to the U.S. The process, which involves 18-24 months of review, includes screening by the National Counterterrorism Center, the FBI’s Terrorist Screening Center and the Departments of Homeland Security, Defense and State. This robust process includes biographic and biometric analysis. I am open to and have voted for ways to strengthen refugee screening in order to keep America safe, but these actions won’t make our nation measurably safer- they will just move us further away from the promise of America.”