South Florida Republicans Want Barriers For Syrian Refugees

WLRN Public Media | By Matt Laslo

Published November 23, 2015 at 11:36 AM EST

Republican Congresswoman Ileana Ros-Lehtinen says a new bill in the House is meant to keep potential terrorists out of the U.S., not refugees who are suffering.

Last week, the House of Representatives voted to set up more barriers for Syrian refugees trying to get into the U.S. South Florida lawmakers are divided largely along partlinesin the debate.

For some South Florida lawmakers, the debate over what to do with Syrian refugees is more personal than for others. Republican Congresswoman Ileana Ros-Lehtinen says she remembers fleeing Cuba decades ago.

“I certainly understand the plight of refugees because I’m a refugee myself. This beautiful country opened up its arms to me and to my family when I was only 8 years old,” Ros-Lehtinen says.

But she and other Republicans say Syria today is a lot different than Cuba in the 1960s and '70s. Before leaving town for Thanksgiving week, the House voted to erect new security hurdles for Syrian and Iraqi refugees. Ros-Lehtinen says it wasn't about keeping suffering people out of the U.S., but was meant to keep potential terrorists out of the country.

“If you’re an authentic refugee who really wants to do good for America, we’re going to make sure that you could stay and you can come in. So this doesn’t shut the door to any bona fide refugee,” Ros-Lehtinen says.

After the terrorist strikes in Paris, Florida Governor Rick Scott joined dozens of governors in asking for halting the Syrian refugee program. South Florida Democratic Congresswoman Lois Frankel says that's inhumane.

“You have human beings... who are women being raped, children who are being barrel-bombed -- they’re being barrel bombed with chlorine gas and nails, they’re being tortured, they’re being starved," Frankel says. "You have innocent victims of unthinkable things that are going on in Syria that are seeking help and I just think it’s a mistake to turn our back now."

Florida has already received more than 100 Syrian refugees since 2011. South Florida Democratic Congressman Alcee Hastings says the ones he's met are good people.

“I’ve met at least 30 of them in South Florida and they are as concerned about their country as I am concerned about mine and they respect the circumstances here,” Hastings says.

Hastings argues the U.S. already has some of the most stringent background checks for refugees coming from Syria. He says the focus should be on people being radicalized in the U.S., like the Boston Marathon bombers.

“We have to worry about the people that are already here, not Syrians. It was not Syrians in France that did the work. They were native[s] to Belgium and France that happened to be sympathizers," Hastings says. "We have sympathizers here that have gone to Syria, so our biggest worry, in my view, are the people that are here who are not necessarily Syrian but who may very well do harm to America.”

The rhetoric has been heated across the nation, with some Republicans calling for only accepting Christians from the war-torn Middle-Eastern region. As a Roman Catholic, South Florida Republican Congressman Carlos Curbelo says he doesn’t want to see Christians being oppressed overseas, but he says the rhetoric has gone too far in some cases.

“I have a special bias or a special place in my heart for Christians who are being slaughtered in the Middle East. Now we shouldn’t have a test; if we can ever prioritize religious minorities who are being singled out or oppressed that’s one thing. But regardless of faith every refugee that comes to this country should be properly vetted,” Curbelo says.

For Curbelo and South Florida Republican Congressman Mario Diaz-Balart it all comes down to the vetting process for refugees. Diaz-Balart says these lawmakers just don't trust the Obama administration is doing enough to ensure terrorists aren't being allowed into the country.

“So it is pretty clear that the United States at this moment has no way of vetting individuals that are coming from the hotbed of terrorism when we know that the terrorist organization ISIS has said they’re going to infiltrate it to try and send us terrorists to try to kill Americans,” Diaz-Balart says.

Florida’s two Democratic Senate candidates split their votes on the bill.

South Florida Congressman Patrick Murphy supported the measure, while Orlando Congressman Alan Grayson joined the majority of Democrats in opposing it.

The legislation now moves to the Senate where Democrats are vowing to kill it. But the issue is sure to keep playing a big role in the 2016 election cycle in Florida and across the nation.