Syrian refugees face long road, security checks to reach Florida
TAMPA, FL (WFLA) – The fear of terrorists slipping across our border among hundreds of Syrian refugees coming to Florida has rattled politicians ranging from Florida Republican Governor Rick Scott to Democratic Senator Bill Nelson. “I want to know how they will screen these refugees to ensure that there are absolutely no potential national security or terrorism concerns,” Nelson said in a statement released Tuesday.
With that in mind Eight on Your Side took a closer look at the process of resettling refugees from war-torn Mideast nations like Syria and Iraq to new homes right here in the Tampa Bay area.
”It’s not like a Syrian wakes up one day and decides they want to come to the United States and they’re here the next day,” said Maryam Saleh, an American-born immigration law student who has studied the process closely. “As a Syrian-American I can tell you we want the same thing. We do want people to be properly vetted we don’t want terrorists to end up in our midst.”
The process of resettling refugees in America begins a World away when Syrians and other refugees reach the borders of a nearby country. Then the UN High Commissioner for Refugees determines whether they qualify for refugee status as the
first of 13 steps in a
process that now takes 18-24 months. Four of those steps involve security clearance by a number of US Government agencies. Magda Saleh helps in the final stage of resettlement as part of the Radiant Hands charity she runs as part of the Islamic Society of New Tampa.
“The Department of State the Department of Homeland Security the FBI and the Department of Defense are all involved in this vetting process,” Saleh said.
Four nonprofit relief agencies, Lutheran Services, Catholic Charities, Gulfcoast Jewish Community Services and the Coptic Center work with government agencies to resettle refugees in the Tampa Bay area.
There is an additional process for the 10,000 Syrian refugees that President Obama has announced he wants to let into the U.S.,
roughly 400 of them are likely to land in Florida.
A recent article in the Economist Magazine claims that
out of 745,000 refugees resettled in America since the 9/11 terrorist attacks only two have been arrested for having terrorist ties. Nearly all of the refugees Magda Saleh helps in the Tampa area are families. Their arrival here is anything but easy, said Saleh and
it’s certainly not a free ride even after the two-year process of getting here.
“They come expecting a nice house they’re going to get a car they’re going to get everything they need, they’re in America,” Said Saleh. “And what they find is they really have to work from the day they get here to get their English skills up become a contributing member of society.”
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