President Barack Obama’s Syrian refugee program is driving a wedge through the Democratic Party, pitting liberal stalwarts against nervous Senate candidates and some senior lawmakers.

With the White House scrambling to defend its resettlement program and Republicans pressing to “pause” or even eliminate it, liberals were alarmed earlier this week when third-ranking Sen. Chuck Schumer of New York expressed openness to a time-out on resettling Syrian refugees. Meanwhile, Democrats battling in competitive races from Ohio to New Hampshire to Nevada are voicing concerns with the vetting process for refugees fleeing Syria, a nation millions have left since a civil war began four years ago.


New Hampshire Gov. Maggie Hassan, who is challenging Sen. Kelly Ayotte (R-N.H.) in her bid for reelection, urged the federal government to stop accepting Syrian refugees until the process is reviewed. Nevada Senate candidate Catherine Cortez Masto wants U.S. intelligence officials to sign off on the vetting process before admitting more refugees. And former Ohio Gov. Ted Strickland, aiming to unseat GOP Sen. Rob Portman in Ohio, joined the chorus Tuesday, calling for a “short-term pause” in the resettlement program.

But those responses have triggered strong blowback from liberal Democrats and advocacy groups. They’re exerting tremendous pressure on lawmakers to reject any measure that would further tie the Obama administration’s hands when it comes to accepting more refugees from abroad.

“I’m really very disappointed in where things have gone. I’m very disappointed in a number of my colleagues, and that’s irrespective of party,” Sen. Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.) said Wednesday. “I think that we just have such a knee-jerk reaction that is so divorced from the facts.”

Though there is little evidence yet that the perpetrators of last week’s deadly attacks in Paris were from Syria, Congress has seized on the refugee resettlement program and the Obama administration’s plans to admit as many as 10,000 Syrians through the program this year amid deepening public worries that terrorists from the Islamic State will exploit the initiative.

And some Democrats think the party needs to mount a tougher defense of the resettlement program and the rigorous process that refugees already go through to be admitted into the United States.

“We expect Republicans to rely on cynicism, fear-mongering and intolerance,” said Frank Sharry, executive director of the immigrant advocacy group America’s Voice. “We expect Democrats to stand up to xenophobia and stand up for our core values. We’ll be watching very, very closely to see if they do.”

National Republican operatives suggested Democratic candidates were backing a pause in refugee resettlement because polling indicates that voters are concerned about terrorists slipping through the vetting process. A Bloomberg poll released Wednesday afternoon found that 53 percent of those surveyed opposed the continuation of resettling 10,000 Syrian refugees in the United States.

“They’re listening to the people,” Roger Wicker (R-Miss.), chairman of the National Republican Senatorial Committee, said of Democratic Senate hopefuls. “It’s clear that public opinion is registering some legitimate concern about bringing large numbers of people in without being completely vetted.”

Democrats denied that’s where the divisions were coming from, and at least one senator not in campaign mode said she may agree to a pause in resettling refugees, depending on the intelligence reports.

“To rush on this is a big mistake,” said Sen. Dianne Feinstein of California, the top Democrat on the Intelligence committee. “I may well [agree with a pause]. I need some time to know from an intelligence perspective, what is the situation? This may be a solution without a cause.”

But the willingness to entertain a pause in the resettlement program from influential senators such as Schumer and Feinstein, as well as the outright calls to do so from Senate candidates, is colliding with the views of Democratic senators who said the program shouldn’t be the target in the aftermath of the Paris attacks.

“I don’t support that,” Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio) said of temporarily halting the refugee program. “The only harder way to get here than through the way we have been screening and admitting Syrian refugees and others from the Middle East … is to swim across the Atlantic.”

Other Senate Democrats, such as Robert Menendez of New Jersey and Chris Murphy of Connecticut, also defended the current refugee vetting methods and dismissed calls to stop the resettlement program.

All refugees admitted to the United States go through an extensive, multilayered background check system, a process that administration officials say usually takes 18 months to two years. But because the United States doesn’t have significant presence on the ground in Syria, there isn’t as much information available about the local population as officials would like. FBI Director James Comey has warned of “certain gaps” in the data used by the government to screen refugees.

Roughly 2,000 refugees from Syria have been admitted in the past four years.

“We have millions of people who have come in as refugees. We have a very vigorous program. We have a great success rate with it,” Menendez said. “I don’t know why we should change it now other than to continue to have the strong, secure vetting that is necessary to ensure that those who come ultimately come because they are truly seeking refuge.”

A core group of Senate Democrats worked privately on Wednesday to draft a proposal responding to the Paris attacks — a plan that includes reforms to the visa waiver program and closing the so-called terror gap, according to a source familiar with the negotiations. Specifically, shutting the terror gap would involve barring people who are on the FBI’s Terrorist Watchlist from possessing or buying firearms.

But Democrats running for Senate in purple and red states showed far less interest in deliberation. Hassan was one of the first high-profile Democrats to call for halting refugee resettlement, leading Ayotte to suggest that the Democratic governor was merely copying the hawkish GOP senator.

“I’m glad she followed my lead,” Ayotte said on Wednesday. In response, a Hassan aide accused the senator of “approaching the issue politically.”

In addition to Strickland, Cortez Masto and Hassan, Missouri Democratic Senate candidate Jason Kander also called for a pause in refugee resettlement, saying in a statement that “it is not unreasonable to take the necessary time to make sure this process is right before we start accepting refugees again.”

Those candidates are backing a policy change that most Democratic leaders do not yet support, including Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee Chairman Jon Tester of Montana and Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid of Nevada, who has been cautious on the issue that has split the party.

Reid said earlier this week that he personally does not believe the government should pause the refugee resettlement program “until we get the facts.” On Wednesday, Reid said he had not spoken with Cortez Masto about the matter.

“She’s running her own campaign, has her own opinion,” Reid said. Asked whether he disagreed with her, Reid said his press availability was over.

Democratic senators can exercise more caution than candidates who have to respond immediately to attacks from Republicans about not having a position on the matter or potentially siding with Obama. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) has made no moves to bring a Syria bill up for a vote in the chamber and is also taking a cautious approach as the House races forward with stricter scrutiny of new refugees.

The Republican-led House is poised to vote on a bill Thursday that would force the government to adopt tougher requirements before admitting refugees from Syria and Iraq. But Democrats are largely expected to oppose the measure, saying it essentially equals a pause in the refugee program because the requirements are so rigorous. Still, there are likely to be some defections from House Democrats.

Ultimately, the best path for new restrictions on refugees is likely to be on a spending bill due by Dec. 11, a must-pass measure that could be in danger of failing if Republicans press their luck with conservative riders.

Still, not all Democrats in competitive races have endorsed cutting off refugees. Rep. Tammy Duckworth (D-Ill.), who is vying to challenge Sen. Mark Kirk (R-Ill.), penned an op-ed in the Chicago Tribune on Wednesday calling for the United States to be more welcoming of refugees from Syria.

“By remaining steadfast and true to our values, the United States can lead the fight to crush Islamic State. This requires engagement, however, not retreat,” Duckworth wrote. “In this fight, our compassion and values are required in addition to our military might.”



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