More than a dozen governors announced they would not allow Syrian refugees to settle in their states following the attacks in Paris, which might have been committed by individuals admitted to France as refugees.
“My primary duty as governor is to protect the citizens of North Carolina, which is why I am taking the steps I have outlined today,” McCrory said in a news conference.
The decision to block refugees has provoked controversy nationwide, with presidential hopefuls and advocacy groups releasing statements throughout the day.
Republican presidential hopeful Mike Huckabee, who did not appear on the main stage during the most recent Republican debate due to low polling numbers, released a statement calling for U.S. Speaker of the House Paul Ryan to stop the entrance of Syrian refugees or resign. Other candidates also called for various levels of caution against Syrian refugees.
But Cecillia Wang, director of the American Civil Liberties Union’s Immigrants’ Rights Project, released a statement accusing politicians of fabricating a link between the Paris attacks and Syrian refugees.
“It is factually wrong for blaming refugees for the very terror they are fleeing, and it is legally wrong because it violates our laws and the values on which our country was founded,” she said in the statement.
While the legality concerning governors’ abilities to impede refugee resettlement remains in question, local North Carolina groups and leaders have called for McCrory to reconsider.
Chapel Hill Mayor Mark Kleinschmidt, who joined with 17 other mayors last month to call on the president to increase the number of refugees to be brought in the country, said he was disappointed with the governor’s decision.