Paris Attacks: 9 Republican Governors Use ISIS Attack As Excuse To Stop Taking Syrian Refugees

Attacks on innocent civilians in Paris allegedly committed by members of the group ISIS (also known as ISIL or Daesh) should make Americans think twice about accepting refugees from Syria, say a growing chorus of Republican governors. The gun and bomb attacks in Paris leftover 120 French, American and other innocent civilians dead on Friday. On Monday, Gov. Greg Abbott of Texas said in a statement that he had sent a letter to President Obama calling on the federal government to abandon its plans, announced months ago, to resettle 10,000 of the estimated 4 million Syrian refugees that have fled following that country’s civil war.

"Neither you nor any federal official can guarantee that Syrian refugees will not be part of any terroristic activity," Abbott said. "As such, opening our door to them irresponsibly exposes our fellow Americans to unacceptable peril.

"Effective today, I am directing the Texas Health & Human Services Commission's Refugee Resettlement Program to not participate in the resettlement of any Syrian refugees in the State of Texas. And I urge you, as President, to halt your plans to allow Syrians to be resettled anywhere in the United States."

The Obama administration, meanwhile, has sought to reassure receiving states. Speaking on NBC’s Meet The Press, White House Deputy National Security Adviser Ben Rhodes said that DHS screening was thorough.

"We have very extensive screening procedures for all Syrian refugees who come to the United States," said on NBC's Meet the Press. "There is a very careful vetting process that includes our intelligence community, our Counterterrorism Center and the Department of Homeland Security."

So far, Republican governors from Alabama, Arkansas, Illinois, Indiana, Louisiana, Michigan, Mississippi, Massachusetts, and Texas have rejected the White House. Alabama Gov. Robert Bentley said that resettlement of would place citizens “in harm’s way.”

“After full consideration of this weekend’s attacks of terror on innocent citizens in Paris, I will oppose any attempt to relocate Syrian refugees to Alabama through the U.S. Refugee Admissions Program. As your Governor, I will not stand complicit to a policy that places the citizens of Alabama in harm’s way,” Bentley said in a statement.

Authorities in Paris have not concluded their own investigation into the attack. It’s unclear if any of the attackers were from Syria or were of Syrian descent. The alleged mastermind of the attack is a Belgian citizen, according to the New York Times. A passport belonging to a Syrian man was found near the body of one of the suspected suicide bombers. It is unclear if the passport was authentic or if it belonged to the alleged terrorist.

The White House urged the public to remember that Syrian refugees are victims, too.

"Let’s remember we’re also dealing with people who suffer the horrors of war," Rhodes said. "Women and children, orphans. We can’t just shut our doors to those people. We need to do our part to take refugees in need."

Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder announced that he was putting his state’s resettlement on hold, but did not rule out taking refugees in the future. According to the AP, Snyder said that he is "proud of our rich history of immigration" but that his "first priority is protecting the safety of our residents."

Snyder’s tone might have been tempered by his constituents. Michigan is home to both a large Muslim and Arab-American population.

"There will be difficult days ahead for the people of France and they remain in our thoughts and prayers," he said. "It's also important to remember that these attacks are the efforts of extremists and do not reflect the peaceful ways of people of Middle Eastern descent here and around the world."

Other governor's statements avoided mentions of their Muslim and Arab-American constituents.

Bobby Jindal, Gov. of Louisiana, has long rejected refugee resettlement. On Monday he confirmed signing an additional executive order to prevent refugees from being resettled in his state.

Gov. Jindal also referenced the reported Syrian citizenship of one of the Paris attackers.