Thirty states, including Arizona, are refusing refugees from Syria. Now, the Obama Administration has sent a letter to those state’s officials to remind them that’s illegal.
Out of fear of militants posing as Syrian refugees, the governors of more than half the country, mostly Republican, are blocking refugees from settling in their states.
However, the Office of Refugee Resettlement has sent a letter to state officials reminding them it is illegal to deny refugees based on country of origin or religious affiliation. While governors claim a specific part of the law allows for this denial, experts have largely disagreed.
The letter reads states risk termination of their federally funded refugee program.
Arizona’s program began in 1978, settling more than 60,000 refugees in the state. Arizona’s Department of Economic Security reports more than 3,600 refugees have settled here this year, with 112 coming from Syria.
