By Philip Sean Curran, Staff Writer
Mayor Liz Lempert on Monday sharply criticized Gov. Chris Christie’s “pathetic” position on refusing to accept Syrian refugees and sounded receptive to having them come to her community.
“Princeton is a welcoming community, and we want to be that way,” she said when asked at her press conference how she would feel about welcoming them to town. “Not just Princeton, but our country stands on the values of welcoming immigrants.”
Last week, Mr. Christie, a Republican presidential candidate, sent President Barack Obama a letter in which he said he would not accept Syrian nationals to live in New Jersey. He noted how the head of the FBI said the government “does not have the background information necessary to effectively conduct proper security checks on Syrian nationals.”
“I have no doubt that ISIS will try to exploit American humanitarianism to expose Americans to similar deadly risk,” the governor wrote the week after the deadly terrorist attacks in France. “I cannot allow New Jersey to participate in any program that will result in Syrian refugees — any one of whom could be connected to terrorism — being placed in our state.”
But Mayor Lempert said the governor’s concerns were “politically motivated.” and not valid.
“And I find them pathetic,” she said.
