Duggan.

On Monday, Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan stood by his commitment to resettle refugees in the city.

“We stand prepared in Detroit to do our share,” Duggan said in terms of hosting refugees from Syria and elsewhere. He reiterated his pledge to welcome 50 refugee families per year to the city for the next three years.

“We have the vacant housing here that could accommodate these refugees,” Duggan told reporters on a conference call. “We have local support agencies and, of course, we have a significant number of Syrian and other Middle Eastern communities based here and so we have been moving down that road.”

Duggan spoke with Homeland Security, state and Customs and Immigration officials in Washington, D.C. last month regarding his offer to host Syrian and other refugees. He conveyed complaints from local refugee resettlement agencies that the Obama administration was taking too long to process prospective refugees.

The officials “were very clear that they were not going to be rushed in the processing of the prospective refugees,” Duggan said.

“A month ago, everybody was criticizing the administration that it was being too slow and deliberate on the background checks on these refugees,” he said. “Now it seems the reaction has gone to the other extreme.”

Gov. Snyder has called for halting acceptance of Syrians fleeing their country’s civil war until the federal government reviews and strengthens its security screenings of refugee applicants. 

Duggan said he’s confident the Obama administration refugee vetting process is thorough and that people fleeing terror abroad would be welcome in Detroit.

“When we saw the tragic incidents in Paris and Lebanon, it drove home to me that the (Obama) administration had foresight in the way that they approached this,” Duggan said. “And I remain just as comfortable today as I was in October.”