Gov. Chris Christie announced he sent a letter to President Barack Obama, notifying him that New Jersey will not accept any refugees from Syria in the wake of the terrorist attacks that took place in Paris last week.
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Christie, along with more than 24 other governors, has said his state will not welcome new Syrian refugees in the aftermath of the Paris terror attacks.
Chris Christie on Monday joined the chorus of Republican governors and Republican presidential candidates pushing for restrictions on US admission of Syrian refugees, but he said he would even oppose allowing 5-year-old Syrian orphans into the country. The fingerprints of one of the attackers were found to match those of a Syrian refugee who passed through Greece in October.
Legal experts say governors don’t have any authority to block resettlements under the Refugee Act of 1980. “How do we ascertain whether or not they are members of ISIS or tied to ISIS?”
(The full quote was actually proceeded by “If someone has never made a ripple in the pond in Syria in a way that would get their identity or their interest reflected in our database …” – though that wasn’t reflected in Christie’s letter).
“I’d sit down with our allies and figure out how we can help, because America is a compassionate country”, Christie said after the death of Aylan Kurdi, 3, who drowned off the Greek coast with his brother and mother as the family tried to reach relatives in Canada.
“I have no doubt that ISIS will try to exploit American humanitarianism to expose Americans to similar deadly risk”, Christie wrote, using an acronym for the organization.
“When asked if he would make an exception for orphans under the age of five, Christie said no”. King disagreed withe the New Jersey governor and said he would have no problem with young orphans being welcomed into the U.S.
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His support was backed up by the numbers: Approximately 75 Syrian refugees have settled in New Jersey since the start of the year, the ninth most of any state in the US, according to the U.S. State Department. “Neither you nor any federal official can guarantee that Syrian refugees will not be part of any terroristic activity”, Christie wrote.
