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McCrory, Haley: Cease sending Syrian refugees to NC, SC

By Jim Bradley
By Jim Bradley

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — North Carolina Gov. Pat McCrory made a provocative request Monday to keep Syrian refugees out of the state until further notice.

South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley said Monday that until refugees can be properly vetted, she too requests they are not sent into her state.

The announcement in Charlotte on Monday afternoon came after reports that one of the Paris attackers may have gotten into France along with other refugees.

McCrory said he’s asking President Barack Obama to take new action.

“I’m now requesting that the president and the federal government cease sending refugees from Syria to North Carolina,” McCrory said.

McCrory is joining more than a dozen other Republican governors in blasting the Obama administration over what he says is a lack of information being shared with states about refugees.

Haley said there remains gaps in intelligence and in the vetting process when placing Syrian refugees.

McCrory said 59 Syrian refugees have come to North Carolina in the last year and he claims the federal government has shared little information about them.

“The federal government has made statements that they do a thorough security check. I don’t know how that’s done and we’d like more collaboration telling us exactly what they’ve done,” he said.

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McCrory’s comments come just a week after a Syrian family was settled in Charlotte through the non-profit Catholic Charities group.

https://twitter.com/wsoctv/status/666342589516357632

A spokesman said the family went through extensive background checks and vetting by the U.S. State Department.

“The refugees from Syria who came to America came here to get away from ISIS, to get away from what was demonstrated in Paris over the weekend,” said David Hains, with the Charlotte Catholic Diocese.

With those Paris attacks still fresh in the minds of many, McCrory said North Carolina deserves answers and assurances.

“Are the people coming from Syria and are they people who we can ensure are safe to our citizens and are not terrorists?” he asked.

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Haley says she still supports giving refuge to persecuted

Gov. Nikki Haley said Monday that she continues to support allowing persecuted immigrants to come to South Carolina — as long as they're not from Syria.

Republicans in the House and Senate called on Haley to oppose all international refugees.

"We need to be even more vigilant about protecting the state of South Carolina and her citizens," Senate Majority Leader Harvey Peeler, R-Gaffney, wrote in a letter to Haley.

A similar letter signed by 13 House Republicans called it "unquestionably clear that these terrorists will execute whatever means necessary to infiltrate and murder innocent civilians."

But the Republican governor said as long as nothing changes in who is being resettled in the state, neither will her stance.

No Syrians have been brought to South Carolina. Refugees being brought from other nations have been persecuted for being Christians, for their political views or because they were interpreters for American military personnel, Haley said.

Interpreters "saved our American lives, so in turn we save theirs by bringing them," she said, noting it's personal. Two interpreters who worked with her husband Capt. Michael Haley's unit in Afghanistan in 2013 came to the U.S. through the program, she said.

Refugees resettled in South Carolina are brought by two Christian relief organizations.

The World Relief nonprofit, founded by evangelical churches, has settled 61 refugees in South Carolina since May 2014. Nearly 85 percent of them are Christians. Most are from Burma or the Congo. None has been from Syria. No Syrians are expected to be resettled in South Carolina next year either, said spokesman Matthew Soerens.

However, the Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Service — the other organization authorized by the federal government to settle refugees in South Carolina — expects to begin placing Syrian refugees in Columbia next year.

Spokeswoman Miji Bell said there is an intensive vetting process for asylum seekers. For Syrians, specifically, that process can average two years, she said.

After talking to federal officials Monday, Haley sent a letter to Secretary of State John Kerry requesting that no Syrians be brought to South Carolina.

"It is my understanding that while our national security agencies are working tirelessly to vet potential refugees, there remain gaps in available intelligence for those fleeing Syria," she wrote, while agreeing that the United States should try to help people forced to flee their homes "for the most awful reasons, such as religious persecution."

Peeler said he stands by his request to oppose all refugees, saying South Carolina can't take any chances on an "oops moment" in vetting asylum seekers.

"I don't trust a bureaucrat at this point," he told The Associated Press. "This is too serious. This can't be, 'Oh, they fell through the crack.' The only way to answer this issue today is just say 'no.'"

Haley also said Monday that she wants to see Obama "take action" following the "senseless murders" of more than 120 people in Paris.

"This is a very real war," she said. "I do think we need to have troops on the ground, and I do think we need to show a strong force."

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