--- title: Paris Attacks: Obama to Keep Accepting Syrian Refugees description: Deputy National Security Advisor Ben Rhodes says screening procedures will keep out terrorists canonical: https://time.com/4113664/obama-administration-u-s-will-continue-to-accept-syrian-refugees/ author: Sarah Begley article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2015-11-15T14:52:40.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-22T12:38:26.131Z article:section: Politics og:title: Obama Admin. to Keep Accepting Syrian Refugees Into U.S. og:description: Administration official says screening procedures keep out terrorists og:url: https://time.com/4113664/obama-administration-u-s-will-continue-to-accept-syrian-refugees/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt57283e8724159d30/69887127ab6d77e54d6a7263/ben-rhodes.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 4504 og:image:height: 2534 og:image:alt: US-POLITICS-RICE og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Obama Admin. to Keep Accepting Syrian Refugees Into U.S. twitter:description: Administration official says screening procedures keep out terrorists twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt57283e8724159d30/69887127ab6d77e54d6a7263/ben-rhodes.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Obama Administration: U.S. Will Continue to Accept Syrian Refugees > Sponsored content. 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Brief is TIME's Washington newsletter, written by senior correspondent Philip Elliott. It explains the politics, personalities and power dynamics behind the headlines, three times a week. It reaches 85,000 subscribers with a 37.0% open rate as of August 2026. #### Where can I get analysis of Washington politics by email? D.C. Brief is TIME's free Washington politics newsletter, available at time.com/newsletters. It is written by a TIME senior correspondent who covers the capital full time. #### Who writes TIME's D.C. Brief? Philip Elliott, a senior correspondent at TIME, writes D.C. Brief. #### Is D.C. Brief free? Yes. D.C. Brief is free at time.com/newsletters. by [Sarah Begley](https://time.com/author/sarah-begley/) ## Sarah Begley Nov 15, 2015 2:52 PM UTC  Ben Rhodes during a Daily Press Briefing at the White House in Washington, DC on Nov. 12, 2015. Ben Rhodes during a Daily Press Briefing at the White House in Washington, DC on Nov. 12, 2015. Saul Loeb—AFP/Getty Images by [Sarah Begley](https://time.com/author/sarah-begley/) ## Sarah Begley Nov 15, 2015 2:52 PM UTC President Obama’s Deputy National Security Advisor said that the administration will not stop accepting Syrian refugees into the U.S. in the wake of the terrorist attacks in Paris. Speaking on [_Meet the Press_](http://www.nbcnews.com/meet-the-press) on Sunday, Ben Rhodes said there are thorough screening procedures in place in a process “that includes our intelligence community, our national Counterterrorism Center \[and\] the Department of Homeland Security.” At least one person linked to the attacks passed through Greece as a migrant, officials said. “Let’s remember,” he added, “we’re also dealing with people who’ve suffered the horrors of war, women and children, orphans. We can’t just shut our doors to those people. We need to sort out how to focus on the terrorists that we need to keep out of the country. But I think we do need to do our part to take those refugees who are in need.” ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4113664/obama-administration-u-s-will-continue-to-accept-syrian-refugees/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4113664/obama-administration-u-s-will-continue-to-accept-syrian-refugees/"},"headline":"Obama Administration: U.S. Will Continue to Accept Syrian Refugees","datePublished":"2015-11-15T14:52:40.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T12:38:26.131Z","description":"Deputy National Security Advisor Ben Rhodes says screening procedures will keep out terrorists","url":"https://time.com/4113664/obama-administration-u-s-will-continue-to-accept-syrian-refugees/","keywords":["White House","Know Right Now"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt57283e8724159d30/69887127ab6d77e54d6a7263/ben-rhodes.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Sarah Begley","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/sarah-begley/"}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt57283e8724159d30/69887127ab6d77e54d6a7263/ben-rhodes.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"US-POLITICS-RICE","caption":"US-POLITICS-RICE","creditText":"Saul Loeb—AFP/Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/politics/","name":"Politics"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/white-house/","name":"White House"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4113664/obama-administration-u-s-will-continue-to-accept-syrian-refugees/","name":"Obama Administration: U.S. Will Continue to Accept Syrian Refugees"}}]}] ```