Syrian refugees cannot settle in Alabama, governor says

Alabama Gov. Robert Bentley greets President Obama.
(Image credit: Saul Loeb/AFP/Getty Images)

In a statement released Sunday night, Alabama Gov. Robert Bentley (R) said he will "oppose any attempt to relocate Syrian refugees to Alabama," following the deadly attacks in Paris on Friday.

"As your governor, I will not stand complicit to a policy that places the citizens of Alabama in harm's way," he said. "I will not place Alabamians at even the slightest, possible risk of an attack on our people." About 2,000 Syrian refugees have been resettled in the United States since the Syrian civil war began in 2011, none in Alabama. It takes anywhere from 18 to 24 months on average for refugees to be vetted, BuzzFeed reports, and the Obama administration announced in September that 10,000 Syrian refugees would be accepted in the U.S. next year.

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Catherine Garcia, The Week US

Catherine Garcia is night editor for TheWeek.com. Her writing and reporting has appeared in Entertainment Weekly and EW.com, The New York Times, The Book of Jezebel, and other publications. A Southern California native, Catherine is a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.