"That’s not American. That’s not who we are. We don’t have a religious test for our compassion," President Obama said. Obama scolds those calling for 'religious test' of Syrian refugees

Political leaders in the United States must not turn away Syrian refugees as part of a religious test, an emphatic President Barack Obama declared Monday, entreating public officials "not to feed that dark impulse inside of us."

“And when I hear folks say that well maybe we should just admit the Christians but not the Muslims, when I hear political leaders suggesting that there would be a religious test for which person who’s fleeing from a war-torn country is admitted, when some of those folks themselves come from families who benefited from protection when they were fleeing political persecution, that’s shameful," Obama said during a news conference at the G-20 conference in Antalya, Turkey.


"That’s not American. That’s not who we are. We don’t have a religious test for our compassion," he went on to say.

Referencing George W. Bush's visit to a Washington mosque in the days after 9/11, Obama said that he "was very proud" when Bush was "adamant and clear about the fact that this is not a war on Islam."

The rebuke comes after Texas Sen. Ted Cruz suggested that accepting refugees should be limited to Christians, as they pose "no meaningful risk of committing acts of terror." Speaking on CNN Sunday, Jeb Bush said that efforts should be focused "on the Christians that are being slaughtered."

Obama's comments also follow announcements from the governors of four states, Alabama, Arkansas, Michigan and Texas, that they would no longer accept Syrian refugees after last Friday's attacks.

The U.S. plans to admit 10,000 Syrian refugees next year, but its security and vetting procedures often take so long it's unlikely to meet that goal.