Pastor Seth Kaper-Dale said they'll remain "resolutely committed" to bringing refugee families to Highland Park. Watch video
HIGHLAND PARK -- A pastor at a local church group that is trying to bring 10 refugee families to Highland Park said Gov. Chris Christie's comments on the subject were "small-minded" and "disturbing," but pledged to bring the families in anyway.
Pastor Seth Kaper-Dale of the Highland Park Reformed Church said the congregation, among other local religious groups, raised $10,000 just on Sunday to help support 10 refugee families from war- and poverty-stricken North Africa and the Middle East.
"We're distraught to think our governor would play into the same political ridiculousness that other governors are playing into," Kaper-Dale said, "connecting horrific terrorists in Paris to 12 million refugees driven from their homes."
But, he added: "We're resolutely committed to getting families set up here as quickly as we can."
The discourse in America surrounding the refugee crisis in Syria and elsewhere changed significantly after a terrorist attack in Paris on Friday that left 129 people dead. The attack, according to France, was carried out by the Islamic State group that controls large swaths of Iraq and Syria. Millions of Syrians have fled the country in the midst of a battle between the brutal terrorist group and Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, accused of using chemical weapons on his own people. Hundreds of thousands have died.
Christie said he's against accepting Syrian refugees, even orphans under the age of 5, part of a rising tide of governors, most Republican, expressing opposition. Christie did not say whether he'd take any direct action in New Jersey.
One of the eight attackers in Paris used a fake Syrian passport, posing as a refugee from the war there to gain access to Europe, reports have said.
"We need to put the safety and security of the American people first," Christie said.
Christie's comments also represent a change of course for the governor himself. He previously said: "We saw the image of that 4-year-old little boy drowned in Syria, and we can't have those kinds of things." He was referring to Syrian child Aylan Kurdi, who died trying to reach Europe.
The governor's earlier comments were closer to the ones expressed by Kaper-Dale's group in Highland Park, a diverse and densely populated borough with a deeply ingrained activist spirit.
On Sunday, the group hosted a walk-a-thon in Highland Park attended by 300 people, Kaper-Dale said. The event showed that Highland Park is willing and able to welcome 10 refugee families, he said.
RELATED: Christie: No Syrian refugees, not even 'orphans under age 5'
They're currently working with local landlords to find three-bedroom apartments, with hopes to bring the first family into the borough by the second week of December. Already, Kaper-Dale is preparing for a trial run; he's headed to the airport Tuesday night to welcome a family from Afghanistan. They're moving into Jersey City.
Given the complexity and length of the process, Kaper-Dale said, Americans should feel safe welcoming refugees. Several federal agencies have to sign off on the program. Kaper-Dale's church is working through Church World Service, which has already settled four families in New Jersey, Kaper-Dale said. That group has a contract with the federal Office of Refugee Resettlement.
Kaper-Dale said Christie's call, while "hurtful," would hold little practical sway.
"We have a president who knows it's shameful to not take refugees," Kaper-Dale said.
The United States currently caps the number of refugees it accepts at 70,000 annually, but after action by the Obama administration, it will soon increase to 100,000, according to the New York Times. According to federal figures, 75 Syrians have settled in New Jersey already.
"It does hurt, really bad, to have a governor so out of touch with the difference between a terrorist in France and a refugee child in Syria," Kaper-Dale said.
Brian Amaral may be reached at bamaral@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @bamaral44. Find NJ.com on Facebook.
