Bobby Jindal to New Jersey governor, Republican Presidential runners say stop Syria refugee influx

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Republicans in the House of Representatives are calling for a pause in the refugee programme and working on a plan for how the US handles the immigrants fleeing Syrian violence in light of the attacks in Paris, Speaker Paul Ryan said Tuesday. “This is a moment where it is better to be safe than sorry. So we think the prudent, the responsible thing is to take a pause in this particular aspect of this refugee programme in order to verify that terrorists are not trying to infiltrate the refugee population,” he said at a news conference.

Billionaire Donald Trump, meanwhile, said the US should increase surveillance of mosques, consider closing any of them tied to radicals and be prepared to suspend some civil liberties.

At the heart of the debate is the Obama administration’s decision to raise the nation’s annual limit of 70,000 refugees by 10,000, with most of the new slots for Syrians, in the budget year that started October 1. That potential Syrian influx pales in comparison with the masses coming to Europe and those being accepted elsewhere. Canada, with just more than one-tenth of the US population, plans to take in 25,000 Syrians in the next few months.

“Until we can sort out the bad guys, we must not be foolish,” Republican presidential contender Ben Carson said after a Nevada campaign swing Monday. And he said of Syrians already in the US, “I would watch them very carefully.”

Florida Governor Jeb Bush said the “focus ought to be on the Christians who have no place in Syria anymore” because “they’re being beheaded, they’re being executed by both sides”.

Obama says Muslims should do more against extremism

Antalya: President Barack Obama has said it is wrong to equate attacks like those that happened in Paris with Islam. But he added that the Muslim community needs to do more to make sure young people are “not infected” with the beliefs of extremists. He spoke Monday at a news conference in Antalya, Turkey. He said that there has not been enough pushback by Muslim leaders against extremism.

Amid calls by Republicans to pause the Syria refugee programme, Obama held firm to current plans on refugees, appealing to Americans to “not close our hearts” to victims of war and terror and denouncing calls by Texas Senator Ted Cruz and former Florida Governor Jeb Bush to favour Syrian Christians over Muslims in the refugee influx. “Shameful,” Obama said. “We don’t have a religious test for our compassion.” Bush had said the “focus ought to be on the Christians who have no place in Syria anymore” because “they’re being beheaded, they’re being executed by both sides”.

Obama said the United States has to do its part to accept refugees from Iraq and Syria. He said the people fleeing Syria are the ones that are more harmed by terrorism.