Obama defends move to welcome more refugees to U.S.

Hitting back at critics of his plan to accept more refugees in the U.S., President Obama said Tuesday that foreigners fleeing war zones are victims, not threats to national security.

Hosting a meeting at U.N. headquarters on the global refugee crisis, Mr. Obama criticized proposals by Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump to temporarily ban Muslim immigrants to the U.S. and to build a wall along the Mexican border.

“This crisis is a test of our common humanity, whether we give in to suspicion and fear and build walls,” Mr. Obama said.

Mr. Trump also has opposed the administration’s move to accept 10,000 refugees from Syria, a target that was reached this month. The president repeated his argument that rejecting Muslim immigrants helps extremist groups recruit more fighters to attack the West.

“If we were to turn refugees away simply because of their background, or religion, or for example because they are Muslim, then we would be reinforcing terrorist propaganda that nations like my own are somehow opposed to Islam,” Mr. Obama said.

He called it “an ugly lie that must be rejected in all of our countries by upholding the values of pluralism and diversity.”

But in Washington, Sen. Jeff Sessions, Alabama Republican, blasted the administration for refusing to send any officials to testify at a Senate hearing Wednesday on Mr. Obama’s plan to accept more refugees.

“The Obama administration has once again elected to subordinate both its relationship with Congress and the legitimate concerns of the American people to advance the agenda of the United Nations,” Mr. Sessions said. “The American people deserve explanations about the administration’s reckless plans to admit 110,000 refugees beginning on Oct. 1.”

The civil war in Syria has contributed to a huge migration problem in the Middle East and Europe, and Mr. Obama has been criticized broadly for not doing enough to end the war. On Tuesday, Mr. Obama said many share the blame.

“We all know that what is happening in Syria, for example, is unacceptable,” Mr. Obama said. “We are not as unified as we should be in pushing to make it stop.”

As far as the threat posed by migrants, Mr. Trump also has cited an internal Homeland Security Department audit showing that the U.S. mistakenly granted citizenship to at least 858 immigrants from “special interest countries” that present national security concerns or high rates of immigration fraud. He said the report should be a “wake-up call” to the government to get tougher on immigration and border security.

Mr. Obama, who proposes to increase the U.S. quota of refugees to 110,000 in fiscal 2017 from 85,000 in the current year, said the expansion can be conducted safely.

“In recent years in the United States, we’ve worked to put in intensive screening and security checks so that we can welcome refugees and ensure our security,” the president said. “Refugees are subject to more vigorous screening than the average tourist.”

Mr. Obama convened the meeting with the leaders of Canada, Ethiopia, Germany, Jordan, Mexico and Sweden in a push for commitments for nations to accept greater numbers of refugees from war-torn nations such as Syria, Afghanistan and Somalia. The world is facing the largest movement of refugees since World War II, some 65 million people.

“If there’s one thing that I hope comes out of today, it is a shared understanding that the children we see in these refugee camps are as precious as our children,” Mr. Obama said. “Somebody loves them just as much.”

Ten countries, including Turkey, Pakistan, Lebanon, Iran and Ethiopia, take in the vast majority of refugees.