MANILA, Philippines (AP) — President Barack Obama is drawing a connection between resistance to letting Syrian refugees into the U.S. and resistance to closing the Guantanamo Bay detention center.
Following the Paris attacks, some Republicans have called for halting the entry of Syrian refugees or giving preference to Syrian Christians. Obama says only allowing Christians in alienates Muslims the same way that Guantanamo has for years. He says the detention center has been an “enormous recruitment tool” for extremists.
Obama says after Paris, there’s a strong tendency for people to get worked up about issues that have nothing to do with security.
Obama is commenting amid new delays in submitting a plan to Congress on how to close the prison. He says the U.S. can shut down Guantanamo while keeping the American people safe.
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