At least 19 governors are trying to block Syrian refugees from entering their states

Arriving migrants in Germany
(Image credit: Johannes Simon/Getty Images)

The governors of Alabama, Arkansas, Michigan, Texas, Indiana, Louisiana, Illinois, Massachusetts, Ohio, North Carolina, Mississippi, Florida, New Hampshire, Arizona, Georgia, Maine, Wisconsin, Nebraska, and Tennessee have all announced they'll move to ban Syrian refugees from entering their states, USA Today reports. The moves, all from Republican governors so far save for New Hampshire's Maggie Hassan, come after French authorities said they found a Syrian refugee passport of questionable authenticity near a suicide bomber who helped carry out the deadly terrorist attacks in Paris on Friday night.

In a letter to President Obama announcing his stance Monday, Gov. Greg Abbott (R-Texas) argued that "any" Syrian refugee admitted to the U.S. "could be connected to terrorism." That's a claim Obama and other White House officials have refuted, asserting that vetting is in place to keep terrorists from infiltrating the flow of refugees.

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Julie Kliegman

Julie Kliegman is a freelance writer based in New York. Her work has appeared in BuzzFeed, Vox, Mental Floss, Paste, the Tampa Bay Times and PolitiFact. Her cats can do somersaults.