CAIR, ACLU blast Rick Scott for requesting Syrian refugees not be allowed to settle in Florida

Rick Scott‘s request to congressional leaders that they find a way to stop the funding of several hundreds of Syrian refugees may be playing well with in some quarters on Monday, but the ACLU and the Council of American Islamic Relations (CAIR) are blasting him over it.

“Governor Scott should not turn his back on our nation’s long and proud history of offering refuge to those escaping from conflict zones — of welcoming the tired, poor, huddled masses yearning to breathe free,” says ACLU of Florida Executive Director Howard Simon. “We mourn those lost in the horrific attacks in Paris, Beirut and Baghdad, and wish to express our condolences, grief and condemnation. However, we must also warn against what we have often seen since 9/11: the impulse in the wake of a terrorist attack to overreact and curtail the freedoms that make our country great.”

Simon says that Scott is “letting fear take control.”

“By claiming in the wake of the tragedy in Paris that this vetting process is suddenly insufficient for Florida, Governor Scott is punishing refugees for the horrible attacks perpetrated by the kinds of terrorists they are trying to escape, ” Simon says, adding, “We should not give in to impulses to deny people rights based on their national origin, race, or religion. Instead of blaming Syrian refugees for the very violence they are escaping, we call on Governor Scott to affirm the need for refugees to have a place to take sanctuary from the brutality of ISIS.”