Alaska's congressional delegation and a growing chorus of Republican state lawmakers say they oppose plans to resettle Syrian refugees in the United States, while Gov. Bill Walker says he is more concerned with making sure the process to approve such potential arrivals "remains the most stringent in the world."
Walker has not joined more than 25 mostly Republican governors who have pledged to oppose or defy a plan by the Obama administration to bring 10,000 refugees from Syria's civil war to the United States, an issue that has become a touchstone for a simmering battle over immigration and security fueled by the terrorist attacks in Paris — though most of the suspects there are thought to have been French citizens.
The governors -- from states including Illinois to Michigan and Georgia -- have attracted broad attention, despite legal authority for immigration resting with the national government, not the states.
Walker said in a statement Tuesday that he had participated in White House telephonic briefing on Syrian refugee resettlement and had learned about the lengthy process potential refugees go through before getting permission to come to the United States.
"While I understand the issue of allowing refugees into our country and our state lands solely with the federal government, I will remain focused on making sure the vetting process we were briefed on today remains the most stringent refugee vetting process in the world," Walker said in a statement Tuesday.
With a dearth of facts and apparent confusion about the process of refugee resettlement, lawmakers scrambled to release statements about the issue.
"We had more calls on this yesterday from Alaskans in one day than we've had on any other issue, at least since I've been in the Senate," said U.S. Senator Dan Sullivan, who said Monday he wouldn't support Syrian refugee resettlement until he was satisfied the country had a "robust verification system" to confirm the identities of asylum seekers.
Congressman Don Young said in a statement he would "stand with numerous others in calling for the suspension of Syrian refugee resettlement efforts in the United States."
U.S. Senator Lisa Murkowski, after saying she was still considering the issue Monday, on Tuesday called for a moratorium on granting asylum to Syrian refugees.
"I think we are a very generous nation, we are a very hospitable nation, and we are also a nation that seeks to ensure a level of protection for our citizens," Murkowski said in an interview. "And so making sure that we have a refugee asylum process that is strong and doesn't have holes in it, something people want us to ensure."
'We are facing massive budget deficits'
In Alaska, Republican lawmakers including Rep. Shelley Hughes, Rep. Lynn Gattis, Sen. Mike Dunleavy and Rep. Charisse Millett released statements calling on Walker to join with the other governors in attempting to bar the refugees.
"After numerous conversations today it is clear that Alaskans would prefer our state not take in any Syrian refugees at this time because of safety concerns," Millett wrote in a letter to Walker.
"The more states that don't accept refugees, that narrows down where they might go," said Rep. Bob Lynn, an Anchorage Republican.
Lynn said some of his own ancestors are Scotch-Irish; his father came to the U.S. in 1908 from Concordia in the Mexican state of Sinaloa. Asked what would have happened if his ancestors were treated the same way as the Syrians, he responded: "That's comparing apples to oranges, because we didn't have terrorists among them with sophisticated weapons."
Rep. Lynn Gattis wrote in a letter to Walker that she had concerns beyond security issues raised by other lawmakers.
"We are facing massive budget deficits in Alaska and literally cannot afford the services that Alaskans need, let alone the massive level of assistance Syrian refugees would require to make a home in Alaska in the middle of winter," wrote Gattis, a Wasilla Republican.
Relatively few Alaska Democrat lawmakers have weighed in on the issue.
But Rep. Scott Kawasaki, a Fairbanks Democrat, said he believed some politicians were "using this for political purposes rather than thinking about refugees as people."
"Syrian refugees or anybody -- any refugees -- they have to go through a very rigid, strict process to get into the country. A lot of people forget these are war refugees trying to make a better life," said Kawasaki. "To turn them away I personally believe is un-Alaskan and un-American."
How refugees get to Alaska
The agency that helps refugees when they arrive in Alaska, Catholic Social Services, says there are no immediate plans for Syrian refugees to come here.
Here's how the refugee resettlement process works:
First, people must register with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees. The organization then screens applicants to confirm their reason for fleeing their country of origin.
Then, potential migrants must be accepted into the U.S. State Department Refugee Admissions Program. A vetting process begins that involves Department of Homeland Security interviews, where biometric and biographic data is collected. There are also background checks by federal agencies, including the FBI and other intelligence agencies.
A person accepted as a refugee is assigned to a voluntary nonprofit agency that handles the logistics of resettlement. For Alaska, that role is filled by the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops.
The Conference of Bishops coordinates with local groups to determine where refugees will settle. In Alaska's case, Anchorage-based Catholic Social Services is the only refugee resettlement agency in the state.
The number of refugees sent to a state or community is based in part on housing, medical care and availability of jobs and whether an existing ethnic community or speakers of the person's language already live there, according to a statement from Catholic Social Services.
Refugees coming to Alaska are almost always initially sent to Anchorage.
In 2014, Alaska received 141 people from Burma, Cuba, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Iran, Iraq, Nepal, Somalia and Sudan, according to numbers from the U.S. Office of Refugee Resettlement.
Since Jan. 1, 2014, the federal government has processed 2,078 Syrian refugees, according to federal data. None have come to Alaska.
This year, Alaska is expected to resettle 125 refugees, according to Catholic Social Services. This year's arrivals come from Sudan, Somalia, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Bhutan, Ethiopia and Eritrea, all areas of conflict.
Alaska Dispatch News Reporters Erica Martinson in Washington, D.C., and Nathaniel Herz in Anchorage contributed to this story.