Saud Anwar said most of people killed by ISIS are Muslim -- and using the term Islamic terrorism gives ISIS more power.
It's still unclear how the U.S. Senate will respond to the House of Representatives' bill that would tighten the vetting process for refugees from Syria and Iraq.
Governor Dannel Malloy stood out from more than two-dozen of his counterparts when he said Syrian refugees would be welcome in this state. But some city leaders in Connecticut fear that this threaten American security.
“I don’t understand why we would be taking in any male 18 to 55 who frankly has no business being a refugee,” said Danbury mayor Mark Boughton, on WNPR’s Where We Live. He said he supports women and children coming to the U.S. as refugees, but not adult males.
“They should stay in Syria. They should fight ISIS -- fight against -- for change in their country, as generations have done in other countries throughout the years,” Boughton said.
Boughton also said the U.S. should say it’s at war against what he calls radical Islamic terrorism.
This statement didn't sit well with Saud Anwar, a South Windsor town councilman and Connecticut’s first Muslim mayor.
“When we talk about the term Islamic terrorism, we’re actually giving credibility to these barbaric individuals,” Anwar said.
Anwar pointed out that most of people killed by ISIS are Muslim, and using the term Islamic terrorism gives ISIS more power.
“Rather than alienating a community, let’s partner with community to take care of these evil people,” Anwar said.
The debate is coming after the attacks on Paris. Questions have also been raised about America’s visa waiver program, which allows citizens from most developed countries access into the U.S. with no restrictions. Five of the alleged Paris attackers were French citizens.
The U.N. estimates that over four million Syrians have fled their home, mostly to the neighboring countries of Jordan, Lebanon, and Turkey. The United States has accepted less than 2,300 refugees since the Syrian civil war began in 2011.
