JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. – In the wake of the terrorist attacks in Paris Friday, governors across the United States, from Indiana, Michigan, Louisiana, Texas, Arkansas and Alabama, have said their states will no longer accept refugees from Syria after at least one of the attackers came into Europe via a wave of Syrian refugees.
Now, Rep. Kathie Conway, R-St. Charles, is asking Gov. Jay Nixon to do the same.
Sunday night, Conway made a Facebook post with text of her letter that she sent to Nixon today, asking him to “thwart any attempt to have Syrian refugees relocated to Missouri.”
For Conway, the risk of possible radical Islamic extremists getting into the United States outweighs the benefits of helping Syrian people trying to escape those extremists, especially if members of Daesh are using the crisis as a way to get into Western nations.
“The government’s first obligation is to its citizens and to keep those citizens safe within our borders,” she said. “If we’re not very sure of who we’re allowing to cross our borders, then we’re not taking care of our first responsibility.”
Some advocates for resettlement of refugees in Missouri, including St. Louis Mayor Francis Slay, believe the city could easily accommodate fleeing refugees, just as it did Bosnian refugees fleeing the Bosnian War.
Seventy thousand Bosnians, most of them Muslim, now call St. Louis home.
After the attacks in Paris, many leading Democrats, including President Barack Obama and presidential candidates Hillary Clinton and Martin O’Malley, have continued to support continued intake of refugees. Obama stressed that the United States has safeguards in place to ensure refugees are not terrorists, and that “slamming the door” in the faces of refugees went against American values.
Nixon condemned the terrorist acts in France, while leaving it up to the feds to root out possible terrorist threats among the influx of refugees.
“The safety of Missourians is my highest priority, and the terrorists who were involved in planning and perpetrating the attacks in Paris must be caught and brought to justice,” Nixon said in a statement released Monday afternoon. “The screening process for refugees is the responsibility of the U.S. Department of State and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, and I call on our federal partners to implement the strongest possible safeguards to protect our state and nation.”
Nixon has not yet officially barred refugees from the state.
Conway argued the the United States has answered the call for humanity in the past and that ensuring the safety of Americans was more important.
“The United States has shown time and time again our compassion for people who are in trouble who need our help, again and again and again,” Conway said. “To say we’re turning our backs on people is not a truthful statement, in my opinion. Take care of our citizens first and then we’ll see what we can do for the others.”
She also voiced her distrust of the federal government’s ability to detect terrorists.
Update 1:48 p.m.: Gubernatorial candidate Catherine Hanaway has also called on Nixon to suspend the intake of Syrian refugees.
“The Islamic State has claimed credit for terrorist attacks in other states such as Texas, threatened more attacks on America and poses a real threat to the safety of our state. I am calling upon Governor Nixon to suspend the resettlement of additional Syrian refugees until further security measures are put in place to understand who and where these refugees are coming from,” she said. “As a former federal prosecutor who has prosecuted illegal immigration cases, I know firsthand the threats posed to our security when we don’t know who is entering our country.”
Update 2:17 p.m.: Lt. Governor Peter Kinder wrote Nixon a letter of his own, asking for no admitance of Syrian refugees into the state.
“I am certain you share my concern that we must ensure, above all other considerations, the safety and security of all Missourians,” he wrote. “I respectfully ask that you direct all the appropriate state agencies to suspend the resettlement of Syrian refugees in Missouri until those assurances are satisfied.”
Update 3:19 p.m.: Added statement from Nixon.
