RECORD PRESS: Syrian families stopped in Laredo at Texas border
LAREDO, Tx,
November 23, 2015
Syrian families stopped in Laredo at Texas borderAccording to Breitbart, a conservative news outlet, eight Syrian immigrants were apprehended by federal border agents after trying to cross into Texas from Mexico near the Laredo sector of the border on Monday. A DHS representative told Slateby email that "on Tuesday, members of two Syrian families, two men, two women and four children, presented themselves at a port of entry in Laredo". In reality, two families with young children turned themselves in. "There's no evidence they tried to enter illegally", said Shawn Moran, San Diego-based spokesman for the National Border Patrol Council, the union that represents Border Patrol agents. One day earlier, five Pakistanis and one Afghan were caught near the Arizona border. Texas Congressman Henry Cuellar said the families were not absconding or trying to hide; they were taken into Border Patrol Custody and turned over to Immigrations and Customs Enforcement for further processing. On Wednesday, Sabra got a call from a Syrian in the US seeking to bring relatives over from a refugee camp in France via Mexico. "He thought it was worth the chance". "ISIS maybe? I told you so", Republican presidential frontrunner Donald Trump followed up with on the social media site, using an acronym for the militant group. I am not optimistic that we will be able to take the lead in this environment but we need President Obama to rely on his military advisers and there should be no question on the resolve of the U.S. The original photos on the passports were said to have been replaced with those of the Syrians. They are expected to go through standard immigration review process. Opposition has quickly grown against a White House plan to allow into the USA 10,000 carefully vetted Syrian refugees, with at least 31 governors threatening to refuse entry into their states for refugees. "We can't do a background check after the fact". Their arrival and uncertainty about their future in the United States comes at a time of political upheaval over Syrian refugees following the deadly Paris attacks. Texas's 1,241 mile border is nearly twice as long as the other states combined. |