Republican presidential candidate John Kasich said Tuesday he “profoundly disagrees” with President Barack Obama’s plan to close the detention facility at Guantanamo Bay.
“These are people, some of them are the worst of the worst. Why would we send them into our country?” Kasich told on Fox News Tuesday. “I profoundly disagree.”
The President’s plan, submitted to Congress on Tuesday, would move the majority of detainees to other countries, while moving those who are deemed too dangerous to an undetermined detention facility in the United States.
The Ohio governor also questioned the approval process the President’s outline will face in Congress.
“The question is, does Congress have any authority to act? I don’t know what the procedure will be, but I don’t support it,” Kasich said.
The Republican-led Congress is expected to challenge Obama’s proposal on legal grounds.
Complicating matters for the White House, Obama recently signed the Defense Authorization Act and Defense appropriations measure into law, which contain provisions preventing the transfer of Guantanamo detainees to the U.S. The White House is expected to say those provisions are unconstitutional.