Updated Tuesday at 4:50 with ACLU response:
Kansas Gov. Sam Brownback joined more than a dozen other governors Monday in seeking to block the relocation of refugees from Syria to the U.S.
Brownback signed an executive order barring all state agencies or organizations receiving grant money from the state from participating or assisting in the relocation of Syrian refugees to Kansas. He said the action was in response to Friday's attacks in Paris. ISIS claimed responsibility for the attacks that killed more than 100 people.
"My first priority as Governor is the safety of all Kansans," Brownback said in a statement. "We must take immediate action to ensure terrorists do not enter the nation or our state under the guise of refugee resettlement. The recent attacks in Paris coupled with terrorist organizations indicating a desire to attack the United States are stark reminders of the dangers every nation faces. It is imperative that we take action where the White House has not."
After President Obama stated the country will continue to resettle Syrian refugees, nineteen--and counting--governors across the country asked the federal government not to send them to their states.
Other states whose governors have so far sought to block refugees include Texas, Arkansas and Louisiana.
Micah Kubik, executive director of the the Kansas chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union, said in a statement that Brownback's "decision to issue this executive order is badly wrong," and called his actions "fear mongering."
"It is unfortunate that Gov. Brownback has capitulated to the craven politics of fear mongering on this issue. When he served in the U.S. Senate, Gov. Brownback was a champion of the cause of refugees - consistently arguing for the United States to welcome individuals escaping from humanitarian and human rights crises, including those in Darfur and North Korea. Sadly, Gov. Brownback has turned his back on an issue in which he was once a leader, choosing instead to be complicit in the fabrication of a link between the awful tragedy in Paris and the resettlement of Syrian refugees."
You can read Brownback's executive order below:
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