US President Barack Obama has told his administration to take in 10,000 Syrian refugees over the next year amid escalating pressure to demonstrate the country's efforts to join European nations in resettling displaced Syrians.
According to The New York Times, Obama's statement came as the White House press secretary Josh Earnest said in a briefing that the administration was continuing to examine responses to a refugee crisis that has overwhelmed Europe in the recent days.
A number of Republicans warned Obama that he was allowing potential terrorists while aid groups called the move a token one given the size of the American economy and population.
Representative Peter T. King, Republican of New York, said that America's enemy was Islamic terrorism and the Syrian refugees were coming from a country filled with them.