Art credit: thepoliticalforums.com
A meaningless bill to
put some "safeguards"
into immigration background checks
From cleveland.com:
Northeast Ohio Democrats Tim Ryan and
Marcy Kaptur were among 47 Democrats who joined with the majority of House
Republicans on Thursday to pass a controversial bill that would increase
government background checks done before Syrian or Iraqi refugees are admitted
to the United States.
All Ohio's
Republicans backed the bill, which passed by a veto-proof vote of 289 to 137.
But the bill is
toothless. From Conservative Treehouse:
House Votes On
Meaningless Refugee Bill – “SAFE Act” Passes With Veto Proof
289-137 Support….
Under the Paul Ryan approved bill
-American Security Against Foreign Enemies (SAFE) Act of 2015– the
FBI director would be required to certify the background investigation of each
refugee from Iraq and Syria. And only refugees from Iraq and Syria. And if you
are Syrian and you walk into Turkey to begin applying for refugee status,
presto, the bill doesn’t cover you.
The SAFE ACT requires the FBI,
along with the secretary of Homeland Security and the director of National
Intelligence, to certify to Congress that each refugee is not a security
threat. The legislation also requires the Department of Homeland Security
Inspector General’s Office to independently assess the refugee approvals.
However, the bill is largely
meaningless and well beyond toothless. Senator Sessions (R-AL) noted refugees
and migrants from nine different countries have been implicated in terrorism
incidents over the past year. “Ignoring this reality, the American SAFE
Act allows the president to continue to bring in as many refugees as he wants
from anywhere in the world,” Sessions said previously.
There is nothing in the bill to prevent refujihadis from crossing our borders. Just more Kabuki theater from Congress.
Cleveland Mayor Frank Jackson this week
joined dozens of other mayors of major U.S. cities in affirming that Syrians
seeking refuge from their war-torn homeland are welcome here.
"The
City of Cleveland has always opened her arms to refugees, regardless of where
they are from," Jackson wrote Wednesday in an emailed statement.
Jackson
joins Pittsburgh Mayor Bill Peduto, Baltimore Mayor Stephanie Rawlings Blake and Dallas Mayor Mike Rawlings -- who all said they would help
resettle Syrian refugees in their cities, despite the recent wave of panic
among politicians about the perceived connections between Syrians, the Islamic
State and last week's terrorist attacks in Paris that killed 129 people.
Mayors
of 18 other cities, including New York, Los Angeles and Chicago also
signed a letter sent to President Barack Obama in September, pledging to work with
the administration to help resettle Syrian refugees in their towns.
But
like many of those mayors, Jackson's views on the issue depart from those of
his state's governor.
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