Local Leaders Pushing Back Against Syrian Refugee Legislation

BALTIMORE (WJZ)--Maryland lawmakers approve legislation making it tougher for refugees to enter our country, but President Obama and local leaders are pushing back against this bill.

WJZ's Tracey Leong explains.

Millions of Syrian refugees looking to flee their war-torn country now have another roadblock here in America, the House voting to add restrictions for them coming to the United States.

"It promotes hate and ignorance and those are not American ideas," said Mayor Stephanie Rawlings Blake.

Mayor Rawlings-Blake supports efforts to help families seeking political asylum and resettlement in America.

"Baltimore is a city whose strength has been built on diversity it has been built by immigration," she said.

Since 2010 Maryland has taken in 6,700 refugees and Baltimore taking the largest amount.

Governor Larry Hogan joining other republican governors to halt the resettlement of additional refugees, saying "until the U.S. government can provide appropriate assurances that refugees from Syria pose no threat to public safety."

The president responding to the governor in a letter saying refugees from Syria will undergo an extraordinary thorough and comprehensive screening process.

"They are victims of this terrorism," said President Obama.

Obama saying they pose no threat and plans to veto the bill if it passes the senate.

Claims that one of the Paris terrorists was posing as a Syrian refugee has sparked concerns and lawmakers wanting to halt the plan of bringing 10,000 refugees into the country over the next year.

"If this administration doesn't set up that capability we should never take immigrants from areas of the world where people have vowed to do us harm," said Rep. Andy Harris.

The mayor will be joining the international rescue committee tomorrow to discuss the importance of welcoming refugees here in Baltimore.

The Syrian American Council will also be holding an event outside the Capitol tomorrow with a Syrian refugee family hoping to meet with the governor.