North Carolina Gov. Pat McCrory (R) would not say whether Syrian refugees already in his state posed a threat to other North Carolinians during an interview with CNN on Tuesday.
McCrory is one of 27 state leaders who oppose admitting Syrian refugees into their states in the wake of Friday’s terror attacks in Paris. Individual states do not have the authority to turn away refugees, although governors can complicate the process.
CNN host Kate Bolduan asked McCrory about his opposition to allowing in more refugees given that North Carolina already resettled more than four dozen Syrians.
“If there are some refugees already in North Carolina and you’re not confident, you haven’t received enough information that you’re confident of the background check system, what do you do with those refugees now?” Bolduan asked. “Do you think they pose a threat?”
McCrory sidestepped the question and said that the state does not know where those refugees are.
“Well, you’re assuming we know where they are. We don’t know where they are,” he said. “They did not come through the state of North Carolina or any ‘Checkpoint Charlie,’ like they used to have near the Berlin Wall. They directly report to nonprofit agencies so we have to get the information from the nonprofit agencies that the federal government and immigration refer them to. That’s the lines of communications we need to have, especially with our public safety officials at the state level. These are the kind of conversations we need to have.”
McCrory said a conference call scheduled between the White House and the country’s governors is a good first step to opening those lines of communication.
