Why Close Doors on Christian Syrian Refugees? Federal Judge Asks Obama Administration

Activists gather to welcome Syrian refugees at the Washington State capitol in Olympia, Washington, on Nov. 20, 2015.Reuters

A U.S. federal appellate court judge has used a decision on a Freedom of Information lawsuit to question why the administration of President Barrack Obama is not admitting more Christian refugees from Syria.

In a concurring opinion to the decision on the case filed by the Heartland Alliance's National Immigrant Justice Center against the Department of Homeland Security, Judge Daniel Manion expressed "concern about the apparent lack of Syrian Christians as a part of immigrants from that country."

Manion noted his "well-documented" observation that the number of Syrian migrants currently being accepted by the U.S. government is not representative of that "war-torn area of the world."

The federal judge said while 10 percent of the total Syrian population believes in the Christian faith, "less than one-half of 1 percent of Syrian refugees admitted to the United States this year are Christian."

The jihadist organisation Islamic State (ISIS) has repeatedly made it clear that its members are targeting Christians, particularly to "conquer Rome, break your crosses, and enslave your women."

As of August, President Obama's administration has already exceeded its goal to resettle 10,000 Syrian refugees in the U.S. However, only 56 of the over 11,000 migrants from the Middle Eastern country admitted to America are Christians.

Manion also pointed out how President Obama's administration does not have "good explanation for this perplexing discrepancy" and has kept the public "in the dark as a humanitarian catastrophe continues."

"The good people of this country routinely welcome immigrants from all over the world. But in a democracy, good data is critical to public debate about national immigration policy," the federal judge stated in his concurring opinion, as quoted by The Daily Signal.

Furthermore, Manion also drew attention to how the federal courts under the Obama administration "demand high evidentiary burdens for states seeking to keep their citizens safe, and then prevent the states from obtaining that evidence" on these refugees.