US religious leaders make forceful appeals to admit refugees Donald Trump
Donald Trump

Donald Trump

Washington — Leaders of major US religious groups have condemned proposed bans on Syrian refugees, contending a legitimate debate over security has been overtaken by irrational fear and prejudice. Top organisations representing evangelicals, Roman Catholics, Jews and liberal Protestants say close vetting of asylum seekers is a critical part of forming policy on refugees. But these religious leaders say such concerns, heightened after the Paris attacks a week ago, do not warrant blocking those fleeing violence in the Middle East.

“The problem isn’t the Syrian refugees,” said Archbishop Thomas Wenski of Miami, who noted how his state has welcomed a large number of Cuban refugees over the years. “This is falling into the trap of what the terrorists wanted us to become. We shouldn’t allow them to change who we’re as a people.”

About 70 percent of all refugees admitted to the US are resettled by faith groups, according to the US State Department office for refugees. Rev Russell Moore, head of the public policy agency for the conservative Southern Baptist Convention, the country’s largest Protestant group, said screening is crucial and “we should insist on it,” but he said evangelicals should not “demagogue the issue as many politicians are doing right now.”

Lawmakers and more than half of US governors, mostly Republicans, have said they were worried Islamic extremists may try to take advantage of the US refugee process. Some governors are refusing Syrian refugee settlement in their states for now. They point to a passport found near the body of one of the Paris suicide bombers that had been registered along the route asylum seekers are taking through Europe. It’s not clear how the passport ended up near the attacker.

Meanwhile, Donald Trump is trying to back away from his support for a government database to track Muslims in the United States, an idea that drew sharp rebukes from his Republican presidential rivals and disbelief from legal experts.

Former Florida governor Jeb Bush called the prospect of a registry “abhorrent.” Florida Senator Marco Rubio said the idea was “unnecessary” and not something Americans would support. Texas Senator Ted Cruz, who has largely avoided criticising Trump throughout the 2016 campaign, said, “I’m not a fan of government registries of American citizens.”

The first reference to a database came in a Trump interview with Yahoo News published on Thursday. When asked about requiring Muslims to register in a database or carry a form of special identification noting their religion, Trump said, “We’re going to have to look at a lot of things very closely.”

Trump was pressed on the idea of a registry by an NBC News reporter on Thursday evening. Asked if there should be a database system for tracking Muslims in the US, Trump said, “There should be a lot of systems, beyond databases.” The reporter asked if that was something Trump would put in place as president. Trump replied: “I would certainly implement that. Absolutely.”

Trump also told the reporter that Muslims would “have to be” registered. In an interview on Fox News Channel Trump tried to clarify his position. “I want a watch list for the Syrian refugees that [President Barack] Obama’s going to let in if we don’t stop him as Republicans,” he said.

He also said he had had trouble hearing the NBC reporter’s questions. He addressed the issue during a rally in Alabama on Saturday, telling a crowd that reports on his previous statements were inaccurate. But he also voiced support for additional surveillance, both of arriving refugees and certain mosques.

“So here’s the story just to set it clear: I want surveillance of these people. I want surveillance if we have to and I don’t care,” said Trump. “I want surveillance of certain mosques, OK.” — AP

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