Christie mum on what to do with Syrian refugees in NJ

While Christie signed a law in New Jersey to ban people on the terrorist watch list from purchasing guns, he said Sunday that he did not support similar federal legislation, saying the matter should be decided state by state.

He also said Washington should never have cut back on the National Security Agency’s collection of phone data in the wake of privacy concerns revealed by former government contractor Edward Snowden. On CNN’s State of the Union this morning, Jake Tapper pointed out to Christie that there are already dozens of refugees in New Jersey.

The governor called the Obama administration “an imperial administration” and said that the information about any Syrian refugee placements by the U.S. State Department “was just recently released” adding that “they were placing them through non-governmental organizations, and not giving any information to the state government, until just recently when we demanded them, and there was public pressure on them to do that”.

Mr. Christie said he feels good about his prospects in New Hampshire, the second stop in the GOP nomination race, even as a new national poll shows him and other establishment candidates struggling to keep up with Mr. Trump and Mr. Carson.

When CNN host Jake Tapper pressed Christie on whether he thought those about 75 refugees already living in the Garden State should be forced to leave, Christie didn’t give a direct answer. “This is not an issue we should even have to be addressing inside the United States”. He said the move destroyed the intelligence community’s morale.

“ISIS doesn’t seem to be concerned about civilian casualties”, said Christie, “We need to get real about this”.

“I’d like to know what Governor Christie says about this”, the mayor said.

Anthony DelMundo/New York Daily News NY City Mayor Bill de Blasio holds a photo of a dead Syrian boy as he reacts to N.J. Gov. Chris Christie’s statement concerning not wanting to take Syrian refugees.