NASHVILLE – Republican Gov. Bill Haslam says fellow Tennesseans are gripped by fear over concerns terrorists could slip in among Syrian refugees settled in the Volunteer State.
Haslam, who last week asked the Obama administration to “pause” resettling refugees and allow states to participate in vetting them, told the Nashville Rotary Club on Monday that “people in Tennessee are scared – maybe as scared as anything I’ve ever seen.”
A sign welcoming Syrian refugees is placed at the entrance to the office of the Arizona governor during a rally at the Arizona Capitol on Tuesda in Phoenix. Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey has joined a growing number of governors calling for an immediate halt to the placement of any new refugees in the wake of terrorist attacks in Paris.
FILE – In this Nov. 4, 2015, file photo, people wait in line to enter the migrant and refugee registration camp in Moria, on the island of Lesbos, Greece. Some Republicans are pushing back against aggressive opposition in their party to Syrian refugees resettling in the U.S., fresh evidence of a rift within the GOP that threatens to complicate the party’s outreach to minorities heading into the 2016 presidential contest. (AP Photo/Marko Drobnjakovic, File) 
FILE — In this file photo released May 14, 2015 by a militant website, which has been verified and is consistent with other AP reporting, a member of the Islamic State group’s vice police known as “Hisba,” right, reads a verdict handed down by an Islamic court sentencing many they accused of adultery to lashing, in Raqqa City, Syria. Islamic State militants are barricading down for a possible assault on their de facto capital Raqqa, hiding among civilian homes and preventing anyone from fleeing, as international airstrikes intensify on the Syrian city in the wake of the Paris attacks. For many, the threat of missiles and bombs from the enemies of Islamic State is more of an immediate threat than the vicious oppression of the jihadis’ themselves. (Militant website via AP, File) The governor, who took office nearly five years ago, said he’s been careful in his statements because “words matter” in such situations and that’s why “we worked really hard when we put out a statement to get it right because this is a really difficult situation.”
Speaking earlier to reporters, Haslam said Obama administration officials showed no interest in allowing governors to use their own resources to join in the vetting process during last week’s teleconference between White House officials and governors.
“I think the White House maybe has some concerns we’re going to publish the names of people,” the governor said. “That’s not the purpose at all. It’s just so we can understand the background of who is coming. Because there’s an extraordinary level of fear right now.”