Roanoke mayor: Until serious hostilities end suspend relocating Syrian refugees to area

ROANOKE, Va. – The mayor of Roanoke has asked agencies to suspend relocating Syrian refugees to the area in the wake of the Paris terrorist attacks and other threats.

Mayor David Bowers said in a statement Wednesday that area relocation efforts should be stopped “until these serious hostilities and atrocities end” or are brought under control.

He cited the Paris attacks and the bombing of a Russian airliner. The Islamic State has claimed responsibility for both.

Bowers also invoked the U.S. government’s internment of Japanese-American people in camps during World War II after the bombing of Pearl Harbor. Bowers said it appears that the threat of harm to America from the Islamic State “now is just as real and serious as that from our enemies then.”

The federal government controls resettlement programs, and states have no authority to bar refugees from moving to their jurisdictions

Bowers didn’t immediately return a telephone message.