The U.S. government has informed the state of Florida that 425 of the Syrian refugees coming to the United States will be sent there, Gov. Rick Scott said Wednesday, but "they're not going to give us any more information and they're moving full speed ahead," and he's concerned.
"Here are the facts," said the Republican governor on
Fox News' "Fox and Friends" program about a conference call he participated in with the White House on Tuesday. "They're not going to pause. They couldn't explain to me how the U.S. vetting process is any better than the French vetting process, even though we know one of the terrorists posed as a Syrian refugee."
Scott, like dozens of other governors across the United States, wants to put the United States' refugee asylum process on hold until the vetting process is nailed down. He said Wednesday that even though the government plans to do background checks, "they're not going to give me or any of our law enforcement in Florida the background checks."
"And they're not going to give us any power, which we don't have now," he told the program. "That's why what I ask is let's take a pause, we see that France is still developing...that's why I asked Speaker [Paul] Ryan and [Senate] Majority Leader Mitch McConnell to say don't use any federal funds to relocate any Syrian refugees in Florida."
But the Obama administration, Scott maintained, is "not going to tell us anything. I have to defend the 20 million people that live in my state. I'm responsible for 20 million people's safety, and over 100 million tourists a year. Now that, to me, I mean that's concerning."
Sandy Fitzgerald ✉
Sandy Fitzgerald has more than three decades in journalism and serves as a general assignment writer for Newsmax covering news, media, and politics.
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