WASHINGTON (Sputnik) – US Vice President Joe Biden called on the US citizens Saturday to not turn away from the Syrian refugees and to "not play right into the terrorists’ hands" by dividing the community.
"Let’s also remember who the vast majority of these refugees are: women, children, orphans, survivors of torture, people desperately in need of medical help. To turn them away and say there is no way you can ever get here would play right into the terrorists’ hands," Biden said in his weekly address.
The vice president, citing a speech by Islamic State leader Abu Bakr Baghdadi, said the group aimed to "manufacture a clash between civilizations. They want frightened people to think in terms of ‘us versus them.’ They want us to turn our backs on Muslims victimized by terrorism."
Following the deadly terrorist attacks in Paris by the Islamic State on November 13, US lawmakers and state governors quickly warned they would fight Obama's resettlement plan and prevent the refugees from coming into the United States.
After Thursday’s vote, supported primarily by congressional Republicans, the bill will head to the US Senate for a vote despite Obama’s veto threat a day earlier.
