United Nations urges Europe not to blame refugees for Paris attacks

And yet the governors of Texas, Michigan, Louisiana, Alabama and a growing list of other states are now saying, basically, that the USA can't risk accepting a single one of these desperate people - apparently because someone with a Syrian passport reportedly was involved in last week's horrific terrorist attacks in Paris.

French officials said the passport was a fake, which was undetected.

The German government said after the attacks, in which at least 129 people were killed on Friday night, that its security agencies had intensified monitoring of radical right-wing activists, fearing a backlash against refugees. There've been similar calls in a few European countries to block any more refugees from entering the E.U.

The attacker landed on the Greek island of Leros on October 3 carrying a Syrian passport and gave his name as Ahmad Almohammad, Greek Immigration minister Ioannis Mouzalas told reporters Sunday. As Eusebio Elizondo, Auxiliary Bishop of Seattle, WA and chairman of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops' Committee on Migration, said: "As a great nation, the United States must show leadership during this crisis and bring nations together to protect those in danger and bring an end to the conflicts in the Middle East".

Federal Bureau of Investigation Director James Comey recently testified that "gaps" remain in our country's ability to screen refugees, because of a lack of intelligence on the ground in Syria.

"The host countries of Lebanon, Jordan and Turkey, they're already at the breaking point", says Brian Hansford, a spokesman for the U.N.'s High Commissioner for Refugees office in Washington.

Governors from each state issued announcing they would no longer help support the Obama administration's goal of accepting 10,000 Syrian refugees in the coming years.

Several governors are temporarily halting efforts to allow Syrian refugees into their states after terrorists connected to the Paris attacks may have posed as refugees to enter France.

"Our emphasis is on admitting the most vulnerable Syrians - particularly survivors of violence and torture, those with severe medical conditions, and women and children - in a manner that is consistent with United States of America national security", it said. The Democratic candidate, John Bel Edwards, released a TV ad in early November accusing Republican David Vitter, who was linked to a 2007 prostitution scandal, of choosing "prostitutes over patriots". It betrays Wisconsin values of hospitality and compassion, and flies in the face of the laws of this country. Our nations can welcome refugees who are desperately seeking safety and ensure our own security.

Republican presidential contender Ben Carson, a retired brain surgeon, said that from the viewpoint of the Islamic State group, it would be "almost malpractice" not to do everything possible to infiltrate the refugee ranks with militants bent on waging jihad.

But the American system for harboring people fleeing war and repression is different from that of Europe, which is struggling with a flood of refugees turning up in boats on its shores. "We can and must do both". But even if we were to impose such a visa requirement, an European Union passport would still be a surer ticket to legal entry into the USA than one from any other region of the world.