“My first priority is the safety of Minnesotans. I am concerned about Governor Dayton’s faith in the ability of Washington to properly check the security of Syrian refugees. In fact, President Obama’s Director of National Intelligence recently said it is a “huge concern” that ISIS will infiltrate the ranks of Syrian refugees, and Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson and FBI Director James Comey have both raised concerns about our ability to properly and thoroughly screen incoming Syrian refugees.
“With that level of uncertainty, the appropriate thing to do is halt the flow of Syrian refugees until a time when we can be absolutely positive that our process is rigorous and exhaustive enough to stop ISIS from taking advantage of the system.
“We are a nation of immigrants. This is not a discussion about permanently closing our borders, or even permanently rejecting Syrian refugees. But right now, we are lacking the intelligence necessary to implement security screenings intensive enough to guarantee our safety. Until we can, it is in our best interest to suspend the Syrian refugee program.”
