Gov. Rick Snyder
Gov. Rick Snyder's stance against letting Syrian war refugees into Michigan brings mixed reactions.
"I hope this is not a knee-jerk reaction to the tragic events that took place in France over the weekend,” says Clinton Township Supervisor Robert Cannon, according to The Macomb Daily. “I feel his heart in the right place, but I also hope he does his research and knows how extensive of a background check these folks undergo to get into our country.”
Snyder, along with some other governors, asks the Obama administration for a “full review” of security clearances of refugees who could be placed in Michigan.
Hamtramck Mayor Karen Majewski, whose city has been a immigrant haven for decades, backs the move.
“Certainly there are concerns that refugees need to be screened and the stories verified. We also understand how hard that it is to do,” she tells Mark Hicks of The Detroit News. “Whatever process the federal government and our governor decides to institute, we will in Hamtramck, as we always have, welcome folks who are looking for a better life.”
Dawud Walid, executive director of the Council on American-Islamic Relations’ Michigan chapter, calls Snyder’s rollback “a knee-jerk reaction."
“The Department of Homeland Security already has robust measures of doing background checks for refugees,” he's quoted by The News as saying. “It may not appear to be overtly biased but it is implicitly based upon a biased premise.”
In a Michigan Radio commentary, Jack Lessenberry blasts the governor:
Trying to ban innocent refugees from our state is disgraceful, economically harmful and cowardly. . . .
Governors have absolutely no authority to issue decrees about national immigration policy, but it sure looks good on TV.
