Dallas Mayor: I Am ‘More Fearful’ of ‘Young White Men’ than of Syrian Refugees

‘I’m more fearful of large gatherings of young white men that come into schools, theaters and shoot people up, but we don’t isolate young white men on this issue’

JANSING: “Do you understand, though, the concerns that people have [crosstalk] that there could be someone who could slip in with the refugees? How confident are you of the systems that are put in place, whether it’s the aid Syrian refugees who turned themselves in at the — border in Laredo, Texas, to the system that bring people into this country more formally for resettlement. What — people on the other side of this argument say is — there’s no 100 percent guarantee and that 1 percent is what makes them afraid.”

RAWLINGS: “Well, and there is never a 100 percent guarantee. And safety is my number one concern, as it is Governor Abbott’s. We’ve got to make sure they’re safe. This is a 21-step process to get in, 18 to 24 months to jump through these hoops. This is a serious issue. I am more fearful of large gatherings of young white men that come into schools, theaters and shoot people up. But we don’t isolate young white men on this issue. I was out in the streets last night in Dallas looking at a part of town — a great part of town that [indecipherable] had some recent robberies. Those are the things that mayors are concerned about. This is a big issue. And we as a nation must step up and make sure we’re secure. But we must not do things that changes the soul of who we are as well.”

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