US governors possess no legal authority to refuse Syrian refugees

People walk with their belongings to the Syrian border town of Tal Abyad. (Gokhan Sahin/Getty)

In the wake of the Paris terror attacks that took the lives of 129 people, at least 28 US governors across the states say they will not accept Syrian refugees.

However, the Refugee Act of 1980 gives the governors no legal authority to prevent the federal resettlement. The law states that the president is able to accept refugees who fear "persecution on account of race, religion, nationality, membership in a particular social group, or political opinion.” The governors can however, deny federal funding to slow down the process of settling immigrants.

"The one thing I feel very comfortable saying is there is absolutely no constitutional power for a state to exclude anyone from its territories," Stephen Legomsky told USA Today. Professor Legomsky teaches law at Washington University of St. Louis and is a former chief counsel of the US Citizenship and Immigration Services.

Newly elected Paul Ryan promised to lead the Republicans on Monday by drafting a bill that will amend the act. Republicans have been hesitant to engage a plan to fight the Islamic State, giving the Obama administration free reign in drafting its own strategy. But following last Friday's attack, the 44-year-old Republican was anything but hesitant politicise the tragedy.

“Our nation has always been welcoming. But we cannot allow terrorists to take advantage of our compassion. This is a moment where it is better to be safe than to be sorry. So we think the prudent, the responsible thing is to take a pause in this particular aspect of this refugee program in order to verify that terrorists are not trying to infiltrate the refugee population.

“What happened in Paris is pure evil. It’s clear that this was an act of war, and that the world needs American leadership,” he said. “The national defense bill that I will sign later today requires the president to come up with a plan for defeating ISIS, not just containing but defeating ISIS. A containment plan is not enough. That has failed.”

Attorney General Loretta Lynch defended the Obama administration’s plan to take in 10,000 refugees into the states. Appearing before the House Judiciary Committee, Attorney Lynch said that the US has a "robust" screening process that's stronger than any place in Europe.

More than 150,000 Syrians already live in the US. People arriving since 2012 have been placed in 130 cities. The refugees in the US are the most vulnerable persons feeling Syria, the New York Times reports, comprising mostly of single mothers, children and victims of violence.