ATLANTA (AP) – Some Republicans are pushing back against aggressive opposition in their party to Syrian refugees resettling in the U.S., in fresh evidence of a rift within the GOP that threatens to complicate the party’s outreach to minorities heading into the 2016 presidential contest.
These Republicans have joined Democrats who liken the refugee backlash to the U.S. government turning away Jews fleeing Nazi Germany and placing Japanese in internment camps during World War II. While conservatives cite security concerns following the Paris attacks that may have involved Syrian refugees, others in the party fear the GOP’s position in Congress and state capitals across the country reeks of xenophobia.
“A refugee is someone who has a credible fear that they’re going to be killed,” said Alfonso Aguilar, a Republican who served in the George W. Bush administration and now leads the Latino Partnership for Conservative Principles. “To close the door reminds me of FDR not letting Jews land in the U.S. during the years of Nazi Germany. Where are they going to go?”
Aguilar said moderate voters who hold outsized influence in general elections could view Republican opposition as extreme and intolerant. He warned that could haunt the GOP in next fall’s general election. But Republicans pressing for a pause in the refugee influx see a need to be mindful, too, about fears of an attack on U.S. soil days after the deadliest assault in France in 70 years.
A number of GOP presidential candidates, governors and Senate Republicans have issued calls to delay or stop accepting Syrian refugees, pointing to indications that one of the perpetrators in Friday’s attacks might have entered France with a Syrian passport. Legislation introduced by Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul, a GOP presidential candidate, could allow Republicans to block President Barack Obama’s goal of bringing 10,000 more Syrian refugees to the U.S. during the current budget year.