Carson says concerns about Syrian refugees similar to parents worry about 'mad dogs'

Republican presidential candidate Ben Carson said on November 19 that concerns over allowing Syrian refugees into the United States in the aftermath of the France attacks is similar to a parent's concern that a dog approaching their child might be rabid.

"We must balance safety against just being a humanitarian. For instance, you know, if there's a rabid dog running around your neighborhood, you're probably not gonna assume something good about that dog. And you're probably gonna put your children out of the way. Doesn't mean that you hate all dogs, by any stretch of the imagination. But you're putting your intellect into motion and you're thinking how do I protect my children at the same I love dogs," Carson said at a news briefing in Mobile, Alabama.

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The comments came on the same day the U.S. House of Representatives, defying a veto threat by President Barack Obama, overwhelmingly passed Republican-backed legislation on Thursday to suspend Obama's program to admit 10,000 Syrian refugees in the next year and then intensify the process of screening them.

Some Republicans have said they feared some refugees could be militants bent on attacking the United States, noting reports that at least one Paris attacker may have slipped into Europe among migrants registered in Greece.

Speaking in Manila after meeting with Canada's prime minister, Obama said America has always been open to allowing people from war zones to find refuge in the United States, and they become "part of the fabric of American life."

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