Some U.S. states say they won't take Syrian refugees

MONTGOMERY, Ala., Nov. 16 (UPI) -- Republican governors in some U.S. states said they would oppose any attempts to relocate Syrian refugees to their states days after a terror attack tied to Syria killed at least 129 people in Paris.

Alabama Gov. Robert Bentley issued a statement Sunday saying Syrian migrants would not be welcome.

"I will oppose any attempt to relocate Syrian refugees to Alabama through the U.S. Refugee Admissions Program. As your governor, I will not stand complicit to a policy that places the citizens of Alabama in harm's way," he said.

"We refuse Syrian refugees," he reinforced in a Twitter message the same day.

Bentley's statement came hours after Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder said in a statement of his own that his state would not accept Syrian refugees until the U.S. Department of Homeland Security reviewed its procedures.

"Michigan is a welcoming state, and we are proud of our rich history of immigration," Snyder said. "But our first priority is protecting the safety of our residents."

Bentley did not explain how he would stop the federal government from relocating anyone immigrating from Syria. Although the U.S. State Department's nine domestic refugee processing centers are in Mobile, Ala., his statement noted no refugees from Syria have settled in Alabama, although neighboring states have processed some.

Bentley's announcement preceded that of Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, who revealed he wrote a letter to President Barack Obama saying that "Texas cannot participate in any program that will result in Syrian refugees -- any one of whom could be connected to terrorism -- being resettled in Texas. Effective today, I am directing the Texas Health & Human Services Commission's Refugee Resettlement Program to not participate in the resettlement of any Syrian refugees in the state of Texas. And I urge you, as president, to halt your plans to allow Syrians to be resettled anywhere in the United States."

Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson tweeted, "As governor, I will oppose Syrian refugees being relocated to Arkansas."

Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal said he would ask the White House for the number of Syrian refugees who are in his state and issued an order preventing additional resettlement, citing a clause in the state constitution noting that "during times of emergency... the governor has emergency powers to protect the citizens and property of the state of Louisiana."

Each governor cited the attacks in Paris Friday as the reason for seeking to deny relocation of Syrian refugees to his state.

On Monday, Florida Gov. Rick Scott wrote to congressional leaders asking them to stop the Obama administration from funding the relocation of Syrian refugees to the Sunshine State.

Their statements came after Ben Rhodes, White House deputy national security adviser, said in a televised interview that the attack on Paris would not change U.S. policy on accepting refugees of the ongoing civil war in Syria.

"We have very expansive screening procedures for all Syrian refugees who have come to the United States. There's a very careful vetting process that includes our intelligence community, our national Counterterrorism Center [and] the Department of Homeland Security, so we can make sure that we're carefully screening anybody who comes to the United States," Rhodes told Meet the Press on Sunday.

Concern about the influx of migrants from Syria was heightened over the weekend after it was revealed one of the militants involved in the Paris attacks may have posed as a Syrian refugee in Turkey.