Mary Troyan And Ledyard King

USATODAY

WASHINGTON – In the wake of the Paris attacks, Florida Gov. Rick Scott is asking Congress to stop the Obama administration from relocating thousands of Syrian refugees to Florida and other states until a complete vetting of them has been conducted.

"We are asking the United States Congress to take immediate and aggressive action to prevent President Obama and his administration from using any federal tax dollars to fund the relocation of up to 425 Syrian refugees (the total possible number of refugees pending for state relocation support at this time) to Florida, or anywhere in the United States, without an extensive evaluation of the risk these individuals may pose to our national security," Scott wrote in a letter to House Speaker Paul D. Ryan and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell.

The letter was released to the media Monday.

After attacks in Paris, governors refuse to accept Syrian refugees

Scott has joined at least 10 other governors in making it clear he doesn't want the refugees in his state following concerns that at least one of the attackers in Friday's terrorist assault in Paris had a Syrian passport. At least 132 people were killed and hundreds injured in a series of attacks that took place around the French capital.

The passport's discovery raised concerns that Islamic State militants may be crossing into Turkey before moving to Western Europe alongside the hundreds of thousands of refugees and migrants who have entered Europe this year, many of them fleeing the civil war in Syria.

In asking for the help of federal lawmakers, Scott is acknowledging that Florida probably has little power to stop the relocation of refugees into the Sunshine State once they've been accepted into the country by Washington.

That's in contrast to at least a dozen other governors, Republicans like Scott, who are refusing to accept Syrian refugees in their states.

The Republican governors -- in Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, Illinois, Indiana, Louisiana, Michigan, Mississippi, Massachusetts, North Carolina, Texas, and Wisconsin -- say their top concern must be the safety of state residents, and they say there's a chance the refugees include people with terrorist ties.

"I just signed an Executive Order instructing state agencies to take all available steps to stop the relocation of Syrian refugees to LA.," Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal tweeted on Monday.

Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson issued a statement saying the plan to resettle Syrian refugees in the United States is "is not the right strategy."

Florida GOP Sen. Marco Rubio, who is running for president, said the U.S. shouldn't admit any Syrian refugees because they can't be properly vetted.

"This is a swarm of refugees, and as I've said repeatedly over the last few months, you can have 1,000 people come in, and 999 of them are just poor people fleeing oppression and violence, but one of them is an ISIS fighter. If that's the case, you have a problem, and there is no way to vet that out," he said Sunday on ABC's This Week. "There is no background check system in the world that allows us to find that out, because who do you call in Syria to background check them?"

Massachusetts Governor Charlie Baker told reporters at a State House event Monday, "No, I'm not interested in accepting refugees from Syria," according to the Boston Globe.

"My view on this is the safety and security of the people of the Commonwealth of Mass. is my highest priority," he added. "So I would set the bar very high on this."

Despite such reactions, President Obama is continuing with plans to accept refugees from Syria. Responding to calls to admit Christians but not Muslims into the country, he said, "That's shameful. That's not American, it's not who we are."

"We don't have religious tests to our compassion," he said, speaking from the G20 summit in Antalya, Turkey.

One refugee advocacy organization said the governors are setting themselves up for a discrimination lawsuit.

"You can't restrict certain nationalities coming to your state," said Jen Smyers, director of policy and advocacy with the Immigration and Refugee Program at Church World Service.

Michigan had been actively working to attract Syrian refugees to the state, but Gov. Rick Snyder said Monday he is suspending that program.

"Michigan is a welcoming state and we are proud of our rich history of immigration," Snyder said in the statement. "But our first priority is protecting the safety of our residents."

His reversal drew immediate and divisive reactions across the nation on Sunday, but especially in metro Detroit, home to one of the largest Middle Eastern populations in the nation.

Detroit-area Arab-American leaders and refugee advocates said Sunday they understand the governor's concern about security, but argued the Department of Homeland Security already does extensive security checks before allowing any refugees into the U.S.

"The United States should be a safe haven," said Dr. Yahya Basha, a Syrian-American advocate from West Bloomfield, Mich., who has family members who are refugees. He was at the White House recently to discuss the Syrian refugee crisis with U.S. officials: "We should welcome them."

Contributing: Brian Lyman, Montgomery (Ala.) Advertiser, Paul Egan and Niraj Warikoo, Detroit Free Press;Kim Hjelmgaard and Jane Onyanga-Omara, USA TODAY.

Follow Mary Troyan on Twitter: @orndorfftroyan