White House to Increase Number of Refugees Amid Concerns

The White House plans to increase the number of refugees accepted into the United States in 2017 from 85,000 to 110,000.

Secretary of State John Kerry briefed Congress on Tuesday about the administration's decision.

Alabama Sen. Jeff Sessions, chairman of the Immigration and the National Interest subcommittee, blasted the administration's decision.

"Despite opposition by the American people, a documented link between terrorism and individuals admitted to the United States as refugees, and over $19 trillion in debt, the Obama administration has committed the United States to admitting 110,000 refugees during Fiscal Year 2017—a roughly 57 percent increase in the number of refugees the United States admitted as recently as FY 2015, and a roughly 29 percent increase from the administration's target for FY 2016," Sessions said in a released statement.

The U.S. refugee policy represents a top campaign issue in the 2016 presidential election.

Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump has said no Muslims​ should be admitted into the country. Hillary Clinton said last year she wants to see 65,000 Syrian refugees admitted annually​.

According to the White House the refugee program is safe and doesn't pose a major threat to national security. However, terrorist attacks last year in several European cities involved people who had spent time in Syria.

"Terrorists have announced that they will infiltrate the refugee population and have successfully done so multiple times in Europe over the last year. These asylum-seekers are overwhelmingly male who make the journey from hotbeds of terrorism to countries throughout Europe. Earlier this year, General Philip Breedlove, who served as NATO's top commander, said that ISIS was 'spreading like cancer' among the refugee population," warned Sessions. 

He goes on to recommend that rather than allowing more refugees to come into the U.S., safe zones be established close to their homes.