Massachusetts Governor Charlie Baker is sticking to the message he delivered Monday: he wants more information from the federal government on Syrian refugees potentially resettling in the commonwealth.Baker, a Republican, further explained his position during a press conference regarding changes to the state’s child welfare agency at the State House Tuesday.
“I got asked several times ‘Does this mean you want a ban?’” Baker explained. “I said ‘No.’ What I want is information, but until I have that information I want to look out for the safety and security of the people of the commonwealth of Mass. I think it’s incumbent on the federal government, given some of the issues that have been raised in Paris and some issues frankly have been raised by members of the federal government themselves, that some of these questions especially for states like ours which have a long and storied history of being collaborators on refugee resettlement, that they should be willing to answer those questions.”
Governors in more than half of the states have expressed reservations about resettling Syrian refugees following the Paris attacks.