Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY), the bill’s sponsor, pointed out the life-threatening consequences of Paul’s actions. “The bill ensures that refugees will not lose critical life-sustaining benefits that are their only safety net protecting them from homelessness, illness and other effects of extreme poverty,” he said, noting that “some of the disabled refugees this bill helps are people who have aided American troops overseas in Iraq or Afghanistan — and risked their lives for America’s cause.”
The idea that the refugee program is being used to usher terrorists into the U.S. has been thoroughly debunked by international organizations. As the U.N. High Commissioner on Human Rights has noted, asylum seekers are the victims of terrorism, not its perpetrators.