The outcry to block all Syrian refugees is generating an equally emotional protest from Syrian and Muslim communities, as well as groups planning to help the refugee families.
Many members of the Syrian and Muslim communities in the Bay Area say they are worried their family and friends will be put in danger from a public overreaction to more than a dozen United States governors threatening to block Syrian refugees into their states after the deadly Paris attacks.
The Syrian American Council says it was stunned to hear of the governors' statements.
"I would say shocked and just numb,' Ghaidda Mousabacha of the Syrian American Council said. "I just want everyone to know the Syrian people are very peaceful people. And they are running away from ISIS. They want a safe haven."
The Bay Area chapter of the Council on American Islamic Relations says that's a key point.
"These are people who have been trying to flee violence," said Sameena Usman with they Bay Area Council on American Islamic Relations. "They have been fleeing violence themselves. They are not the folks who carried out these atrocious attacks in Paris."
Catholic Charities in San Jose says it will go ahead with plans to help refugees, including children starting next month. The group says there is very little chance of a terrorist "sneaking through."
"It takes months, sometimes years," said Theresa Samuel-Boko, who manages the Catholic Charities resettlement program. "So refugees are thoroughly vetted before coming into the U.S."
Claire Collins, a refugee foster care coordinator, said they have a Syrian refugee coming in December.
Local
"Through no fault of their own they have been caught up in these conflicts," Collins said. "So to hear states say they are not going to welcome these children makes me very sad."
Catholic Charities says it plans to help up to 50 refugees starting next month and early 2016.
Meanwhile, California Gov. Jerry Brown says he will work closely with President Barack Obama to ensure any Syrian refugee coming to the state are "fully vetted in a sophisticated and utterly reliable way."
