Fact check: Getting the numbers right on Syrian refugees in Illinois' Senate race
December 17, 2015
By Charles Aull
Senator Mark Kirk of Illinois (R) says that Rep. Tammy Duckworth (D) has called for resettling 200,000 Syrian refugees in the U.S. But when we looked into the details of this claim, we found the evidence to be inconclusive. Moreover, we learned that Duckworth's official stance—based on a letter to President Barack Obama she signed in September—supports resettling half the number of Syrian refugees that Kirk cited.
Background
In a campaign ad released earlier this month and in an op-ed written last week, first-term Senator Mark Kirk stated that his 2016 Senate challenger, Rep. Tammy Duckworth, advocates allowing 200,000 Syrian refugees to enter into the United States. The ad, titled “Big Differences,” opens by saying that members of the terrorist organization ISIS disguised themselves as Syrian refugees in France before launching a Paris attack on November 13, 2015, that left 130 dead. It then proceeds to say that ISIS’s next target is the U.S. and that Duckworth advocates bringing 200,000 Syrian refugees into the U.S.
“But Tammy Duckworth still wants to bring 200,000 Syrian refugees to America, even though the FBI says they cannot be safely screened. Duckworth supports 20 times more refugees than the President," the ad states. A clip of Duckworth saying “I signed on for 200,000 refugees” follows.[1]
Kirk reiterated the claim in an op-ed published in The Southern Illinoisan on December 10:[2]
| “ | At the same time, even after it was clear that ISIS terrorists had used the Syrian refugee crisis to sneak into France, Rep. Tammy Duckworth called for an additional 200,000 Syrian refugees to be admitted to the United States – 20 times more than the Obama administration’s proposal. Duckworth has said that pausing the Syrian refugee program would mean the terrorists won. I think the facts say otherwise.[3] | ” |
Kirk’s comments come amidst a larger debate about the rise of ISIS in the Middle East and about the admission of Syrian civil war refugees into the U.S. Some, such as President Obama (D), have advocated allowing Syrian refugees to come to the U.S., arguing that current security and screening measures will prevent terrorists from using the refugee process to enter the country. In September, Obama announced a plan to resettle 10,000 refugees.[4] Other elected officials, however, including members of Congress and more than 30 governors, have said that they are skeptical of the effectiveness of current security measures and have advocated halting the admission of any Syrian refugees.[5]
See also: "Tammy Duckworth on Mark Kirk, mass incarceration and race."
Kirk's evidence
Kirk’s campaign manager, Kevin Artl, sent us three news articles when we asked for a source in which Duckworth expressed support for admitting 200,000 Syrian refugees.[6]
The first source was Crain’s Chicago Business. The article pointed out differences between Kirk and Duckworth on the issue of Syrian refugees. Three paragraphs in, it states:[7]
| “ | But U.S. Rep. Tammy Duckworth, D-Schaumburg, said at a separate event that the country needs to 'have confidence in our intelligence services' and not put up walls. 'Our nation is better than that,' Duckworth said, underlining her support for a measure to allow up to 200,000 refugees from the war-plagued country in the U.S.[3] | ” |
The second source, The Hill, talked more broadly about how the debate over Syrian refugees is shaping a series of 2016 Senate races. In a section on Illinois, it states:[8]
| “ | The Democrats running to take on Kirk in the general election have expressed support for resettlement. The candidate with backing from the national party, Rep. Tammy Duckworth (D-Ill.), said she 'actually signed on to take more than what the president proposed,' according to WLS-TV. 'I signed on for two hundred thousand refugees.'[3] | ” |
The WLS-TV quote came from a November 16 story by a Chicago ABC affiliate in which Duckworth was filmed saying, "I actually signed on to take more than what the president proposed. I signed on for two hundred thousand refugees."[9]
The third article that Artl sent us was from WLS-radio, an AM station in Chicago. It featured the same clip of Duckworth as the WLS-TV story.[10]
A problem we noticed with all of these sources is that none of them quote Duckworth saying explicitly that she supports allowing 200,000 Syrian refugees to enter the country. The closest comes from WLS-TV (cited by The Hill) and WLS-radio in which clips are played of Duckworth saying "I actually signed on to take more than what the president proposed. I signed on for two hundred thousand refugees." Kirk's campaign ad features this same clip. We were unable to track down a transcript or video of the full context in which Duckworth made this statement—a press conference for the organization Climate Parents on November 16—and we therefore don’t know whether she meant Syrian refugees or refugees in general.[11] Similarly, we don’t know what was said directly before or after this statement. Without the full context, we find this evidence to be inconclusive.
Duckworth and Syrian refugees
A second—and more significant—problem is that Duckworth signed a letter in September detailing her official stance on the issue of Syrian refugees. She stated her support for allowing into the U.S. 100,000 Syrian refugees and another 100,000 refugees from other countries, which is what she may have meant when she said, “I signed on for two hundred thousand refugees.”
The letter from September was authored by Rep. David Cicilline of Rhode Island (D) and addressed to President Obama. More than 70 members of Congress signed it, including Duckworth. The letter voiced these lawmakers’ support for a recommendation made by Refugee Council USA (RCUSA), a self-described “coalition of U.S. non-governmental organizations focused on refugee protection,” that the United States admit 200,000 refugees in 2016, including 100,000 from Syria.[12] “We agree with Refugee Council USA’s recent recommendation that the United States resettle a minimum of 200,000 refugees by the end of 2016, including 100,000 Syrian refugees,” the letter stated.[13] RCUSA made this recommendation in its own letter to the White House on September 9, 2015.[14]
Based on the letter authored by Cicilline, then, Duckworth's official stance is to allow a total of 100,000 refugees from Syria into the United States and another 100,000 from other countries. Seen from this perspective, Kirk's claim of 200,000 Syrian refugees seems to have conflated the number of Syrian refugees that Duckworth advocates resettling with the number of refugees from other countries that she advocates resettling.
Duckworth made her case for admitting Syrian refugees into the U.S. in an op-ed that appeared in The Chicago Tribune on November 18. She wrote:[15]
| “ | It would be a mistake to react as Islamic State wants us to, which is why the callous actions of many governors, including here in Illinois, are so disappointing. They are sending a signal that innocent victims fleeing the brutality of the Syrian civil war are not welcome in the United States, which plays right into our enemy’s hands. It empowers and emboldens radicals who want nothing more than for us to conflate their twisted barbarism with the entire Muslim world, and to appear indifferent to human suffering as we turn inward. Ultimately, this poses a threat to our national security.[3] | ” |
Duckworth did not mention any specific numbers in the article. When we reached out to her campaign for comment on Kirk’s claim, a spokesperson told us, “His ad is false, and he knows it, but worse yet it appeals exclusively to fear and the lowest common denominator. He should be ashamed. Illinois deserves better.”[16]
The campaign also sent us a fact sheet calling the 200,000 number cited by Kirk false. The sheet cites the letter from Cicilline that Duckworth signed in September as evidence.[16]
Conclusion
In a campaign ad and in an op-ed from earlier this month, Mark Kirk stated that Tammy Duckworth supports allowing 200,000 Syrian refugees to settle in the United States. We found the evidence upon which this claim is based to be inconclusive, noting that Duckworth signed a congressional letter to the president saying that she wants to resettle half the number of Syrian refugees that Kirk cited.
While several media outlets have reported that Duckworth supports resettling 200,000 refugees and she may have used this number in the context of a statement about Syrian refugees, we found no actual statement in which Duckworth actually said she supports allowing 200,000 Syrian refugees to settle in the United States—only that she supports allowing “200,000 refugees.” But in addition to this, we also came across a letter signed by Duckworth in September in which she voiced support for admitting 100,000 refugees from Syria and another 100,000 from other countries. Kirk's claim, we argued, seems to conflate these numbers.
Launched in October 2015 and active through October 2018, Fact Check by Ballotpedia examined claims made by elected officials, political appointees, and political candidates at the federal, state, and local levels. We evaluated claims made by politicians of all backgrounds and affiliations, subjecting them to the same objective and neutral examination process. As of 2025, Ballotpedia staff periodically review these articles to revaluate and reaffirm our conclusions. Please email us with questions, comments, or concerns about these articles. To learn more about fact-checking, click here.
Sources and Notes
- ↑ Matt Kirk YouTube Channel, "Big Differences," December 1, 2015
- ↑ The Southern Illinoisian, "Kirk: Duckworth's reckless refugee pitch," December 10, 2015
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
- ↑ New York Times, "Obama Increases Number of Syrian Refugees for U.S. Resettlement to 10,000," September 10, 2015
- ↑ NPR, "30 Governors Call For Halt To U.S. Resettlement Of Syrian Refugees," November 17, 2015
- ↑ Email exchange with Kevin Artl on December 15, 2015
- ↑ Crain's Chicago Business, "Stark political split opens up on Syrian refugees," November 16, 2015
- ↑ The Hill, "Refugee debate roils Senate races," November 17, 2015
- ↑ ABC7Chicago, "Gov. Rauner says Illinois will stop accepting Syrian refugees," November 16, 2015
- ↑ Soundcloud, "WLS 11/16/2015," November 16, 2015
- ↑ Climate Parents Facebook Page, "Rep. Tammy Duckworth headlined our press conference," November 16, 2015
- ↑ Refugee Council USA, "About us," accessed December 16, 2015
- ↑ Office of David Cicilline, "Letter to President Barack Obama," September 11, 2015
- ↑ Refugee Council USA, "Letter to President Barack Obama," September 9, 2015
- ↑ Chicago Tribune, "Tammy Duckworth: Reject fear-mongers, welcome Syrian refugees," November 18, 2015
- ↑ 16.0 16.1 Email exchange with Matt McGrath on December 16, 2015
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See also
- 2016 presidential candidates on ISIS and Syrian refugees
- U.S. governors and their responses to Syrian refugees
- U.S. mayors and their responses to Syrian refugees
- Tammy Duckworth on Mark Kirk, mass incarceration and race
