The panic that gripped U.S. statehouses from Texas to Michigan on Monday over the possibility that Syrian refugees might be settled within their borders did not extend to Grant Street, where Mayor Bill Peduto said the terrorist attacks in France have done nothing to alter his offer to host people fleeing the war-torn country.
It also did not extend to Harrisburg, where Gov. Tom Wolf said his administration would continue to work on resettling the refugees.
In the wake of reports that one of the people who took part in Friday’s massacre in Paris may have arrived in France as a refugee from Syria, Mr. Peduto said the attacks were a chance “to test the words on the Statue of Liberty,” a gift from France dedicated in 1886.
“It always is going to come down to public safety, and I know that for some that is a difficult provision for me to state because of my willingness to allow Pittsburgh to become a safe home for those trying to flee the terrorists out of Syria,” Mr. Peduto said. “Terrorists work in a manner where they want fear and hysteria to reign.”
His comments came as mostly Republican governors, including the governor of Ohio, said they would fight attempts to settle Syrian refugees in their states, though they have no authority over refugees, said Eskinder Negash, senior vice president of the U.S. Committee for Refugees and Immigrants, a nonprofit refugee resettlement and advocacy organization.
“It’s a federal government decision to resettle refugees,” Mr. Negash said.
The United States admitted 1,682 Syrian refugees in the federal fiscal year that ended Sept. 30, up from 105 a year earlier.
In September, Mr. Peduto joined 17 other mayors in signing a letter of support addressed to President Barack Obama, who announced plans this year to accept an additional 10,000 Syrian refugees.
More than a dozen Republican governors — including Ohio’s John Kasich, Louisiana’s Bobby Jindal, Texas’ Greg Abbott and Wisconsin’s Scott Walker — said they would oppose efforts to have the refugees relocated to their states. One Democratic governor, New Hampshire’s Maggie Hassan, is calling for a halt pending more review.
Republican presidential candidates Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, and former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush both said over the weekend that only Christian refugees from Syria should be admitted because they are persecuted and would not pose a threat to the U.S.
Mr. Obama, speaking at a summit in Turkey, defended his plan.
“When I hear folks say that maybe we should just admit the Christians but not the Muslims, when I hear political leaders suggesting that there would be a religious test for which a person who is fleeing from a war-torn country is admitted, when some of those folks themselves come from families who benefited from protection when they were fleeing political persecution, that’s shameful,” he said, adding, “That’s not American. That’s not who we are.”
But there were signs of an anti-Muslim backlash. A mosque was damaged in an arson in Canada over the weekend; threats were called in to two mosques in Florida, both citing Paris.
Conservative pressure is mounting on new House Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wis., to block the refugees. Mr. Ryan said Monday that House GOP leaders were considering all options — including blocking resettlement funds in a must-pass year-end bill authorizing spending in the new budget. He did not state a position on that tactic.
Mr. Peduto noted that refugees must undergo nearly two years of extensive vetting by various federal agencies before they are placed in the United States. About 500 refugees are brought to the area each year by various humanitarian and religious organizations, he said, including two families from Syria in recent years. No new refugees from Syria are expected for at least a year and a half, he added.
“There are 4½ million Syrians who have fled their country over the past few years. There was one who was involved in a horrible incident in Paris. We have to be vigilant on the public safety side of that,” Mr. Peduto said. “I’d rather be able to help find some families and to give them an opportunity to get back on their feet here in Pittsburgh.”
City police Chief Cameron McLay said the bureau’s officers would increase their visibility and review security planning, citing the success terrorist groups have had recruiting “lone wolf” attackers via the Internet who “act on their own initiative.”
“We’re all concerned about that. Tied to that is the tendency for copycat effects when there’s violent events like this,” the chief said.
“We need to have the SWAT team capacity and that specialized expertise for that one bad day, but we’re not going to overreact and change the way we police Pittsburgh because of this threat,” he said.
Robert Zullo: rzullo@post-gazette.com or 412-263-3909. Twitter: @rczullo. Bloomberg News contributed.
First Published: November 16, 2015, 9:40 p.m.
Updated: November 17, 2015, 4:31 a.m.
