Rubio: no to Syrian refugees

CEDAR RAPIDS - Like some of his counterparts in the Republican field of presidential candidates, Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida spoke out against the United States admitting Syrian refugees following terrorist attacks in Paris on Nov. 13 that killed 130.

At a town hall event Saturday afternoon at The Hotel at Kirkwood Center in Cedar Rapids Rubio rejected claims from an audience member that closing borders to Syrian refugees is 'un-American”, saying it's too difficult to vet the legitimacy of those coming from the war-torn country.

'It's not that we don't want to accept the refugees. It's not us saying that we're not accepting refugees,” Rubio said. 'What we're saying is if we accept a refugee, it has to be someone that can pass vetting, and it is not easy to vet someone that's coming from the Middle East these days.”

Following the Islamic State attacks in Paris, Rubio and other Republicans have admonished President Barack Obama's call to allow Syrian refugees intocountry saying it's too simple for terrorists to enter posing as refugees.

About 1,900 Syrian refugees have been placed throughout the country since 2012, and Obama has launched a program that would admit 10,000 in the next year. The Republican-led U.S. House of Representatives passed legislation Thursday that would suspend that plan, though the president has threatened to veto the bill. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said the Senate would reject the bill.

Rubio supports governors who have said they won't allow Syrian refugees in their states.

He said middle-aged men are particularly hard to verify.

'If you're a 7-year-old orphan, I think we can probably vet you. If you're a 90-year-old senior citizen widow, I think we can vet you,” Rubio said. 'If you're a 35-year-old single male, your document might be forged. There's no database for us to run you against. I can't pick up the phone and call the government of Syria and say, ‘Do you know so and so?' ”

Rubio also questioned the reliability of the U.S. vetting process, calling the country's databases 'worthless.”

'The truth is, we are not going to be able to vet the vast majority of those people,” Rubio said.

He suggested creating 'safe zones” within Syria for citizens that, in an October visit to Cedar Rapids, he said would be guarded by Sunni forces and protected by a U.S. no-fly zone.

Reuters contributed to this article.