Las Vegas Sun

March 19, 2024

Nevada Assembly Republicans seek to block Syrian refugees

Legislature Opening Day

AP Photo/Lance Iversen

Republican John Hambrick conducts business during the opening session of the Nevada Legislature in Carson City on Monday, Feb. 2, 2015.

A cohort of state GOP lawmakers is joining Republican Gov. Brian Sandoval and some federal lawmakers in calling to keep Syrian refugees out of Nevada.

Fourteen state lawmakers and the Assembly’s top leaders — Speaker John Hambrick and Majority leader Paul Anderson — issued a joint statement this morning urging President Barack Obama to listen to the demands of the Nevada politicians.

“We request policies and processes that ensure the safety and security of the citizens of our great state and the tens of millions of domestic and foreign visitors we host each year,” the statement said.

Fears of ISIS terrorists posing as refugees has Republicans nationwide calling to shutter state borders.

Nevada Republicans like U.S. Sen. Dean Heller and U.S. Reps. Cresent Hardy and Joe Heck have joined in asking for a prohibition on relocating refugees in Nevada. Their demand follows the ISIS-led terrorist attacks in Paris that killed 129 people.

The extremist group has captured parts of Syria, spurring a global exodus from the Middle Eastern country.

Obama said Monday that blocking refugees from entering the country would be a “betrayal of U.S. values.”

Other Republican Assembly signers are Derek Armstrong, Jill Dickman, Victoria Dooling, Chris Edwards, David Gardner, Pat Hickey, Randy Kirner, PK O’Neil, James Oscarson, Lynn Stewart, Robin Titus, Glenn Trowbridge, Jim Wheeler and Melissa Woodbury.

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