Forget Paris: Lindsey Graham to Double Funding for 'Refugees' -Presidential Hopeful Seeks $1 Billion More, Enough to Bring 100,000 Muslims to U.S.

Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., center, with Sens. John McCain, R-Ariz., left, and Thom Tillis, R-N.C.

by Leo Hohmann

In the wake of the deadly Paris attacks by ISIS, some GOP presidential candidates such as Ted Cruz, Donald Trump and even Marco Rubio are calling for an end to Syrian refugee resettlement in the U.S.

Most of the others have been silent or vague on the issue of Syrian refugees – about 2,000 of whom have already arrived in the U.S. despite warnings from the FBI that it’s impossible to vet their backgrounds.

But there is one candidate who is clearly on the record wanting more Syrian Muslims to pour into American cities and towns as “refugees,” despite the fact that at least one of the seven attackers in Paris had a Syrian passport and entered France as a “refugee.”

U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., who positions himself as a war hawk against ISIS, is co-sponsoring legislation with Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., to nearly double the amount of funding Washington spends on resettling refugees from Syria.

On the day after the multi-pronged shooting and bombing attacks on Paris, which killed 129 civilians and injured 352, Graham pounced again on the theme that ISIS must be attacked at its core in Syria and destroyed, or there would be more attacks on Western cities.

One of Graham’s favorite talking points is, “If we don’t stop them over there, they are coming over here just as sure as I stand here in front of you.”

It’s curious, then, say his critics, that he would be pushing for escalating the importation of more Islamic refugees into U.S. cities and towns from the world’s most notorious hotbed of jihadist activity – Syria.

Graham’s press secretary did not respond to requests for comment from WND.

Without giving a number, Graham has said the U.S. should accept its “fair share” of Syrian refugees.

His bill provides some insight on what that number might be.

According to the Hill, the legislation doesn’t specify how many Syrian refugees should be accepted into the United States but the amount of funding requested would allow for the resettlement of up to 100,000 Syrian refugees over two years, Leahy’s office said.

Even President Obama has never explicitly said this many Syrians should be allowed into the U.S, although that could be his plan given the vague nature of his statements. Obama’s State Department has called for 10,000 Syrians to be admitted in 2016 and “many more” in 2017.

FBI Director James Comey explicitly warned Congress in a hearing last month the U.S. does not have the ability to screen Syrian refugees because data on their background history does not exist.

And the number given by Leahy – 100,000 – also correlates with the number being requested by various human rights organizations and resettlement agencies.

The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops has called for 100,000 Syrian refugees to be resettled in the U.S., as have the Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Service, the International Rescue Committee and others.

The latest call for 100,000 Syrian refugees to be imported into the U.S. came just last week from Eleanor Acer, senior director of refugee protection at Human Rights First, a leading proponent of refugee resettlement and the transfer of Islamic nationals from the Middle East to the West.

Read more at WND:

http://www.wnd.com/2015/11/forget-paris-gop-candidate-to-double-funding-for-refugees/