Calls Grow for U.S. to Welcome More Syrian Refugees

Syrian Americans have joined with human rights groups and Democrats in calling on the Obama administration to dramatically increase the number of Syrian refugees allowed into the United States.

On Thursday, the administration said it would allow 10,000 refugees into the U.S. by the end of 2016. Sarab al-Jijakli, a Syrian-American activist and head of the Network of Arab American Professionals, said that falls far short of what the U.S. can absorb.

"It's a huge nation, wealthiest nation on earth," he said. "And we have the capacity here, to bring 65,000 people overnight into the United States, and help them transition accordingly. From there, we can grow and we can build."

The International Rescue Committee initially proposed the 65,000 refugee figure, while 72 Democrats argued for 100,000 in a joint letter to the White House.

"It is our moral duty, as a nation founded on the principles of equality and freedom, to do what we can to assist our brethren who are in desperate turmoil, and are searching for the slightest gesture of goodwill," read the letter, which noted that the U.S. had resettled just 1,500 refugees since the Syrian civil war began.

Rep. Michael McCaul (R-Texas), head of the House Committee on Homeland Security, argued on ABC's This Week that ISIS extremists could exploit a refugee program in order to infiltrate the United States. 

"We don't know who they are," the McCaul said of the refugees.

However, signatories of the letter argued that "the U.S. Refugee Admissions Program subjects applicants to more thorough security vetting than any other traveler or immigrant to the United States."