Gov. Hutchinson says past Homeland Security experience played into his Syrian refugee stance (Updated)

Editor’s note: The story is updated with more comments about the Syrian refugee issue, and with info on Gov. Hutchinson’s economic development trip to Japan and China. The governor is now in Japan.

Gov. Asa Hutchinson (R) reiterated his opposition on Tuesday to admitting Syrian refugees into  Arkansas, saying that his background as a former top Homeland Security official gives him concerns about the federal government’s immigration vetting process and ability to snare possible terrorists from troubled areas.

Hutchinson made his comments to reporters during a conference call from Japan, where he and staff are on an eight-day Far East trade mission. The governor invited reporters to speak with him from the State Capitol after his brief statement on Monday saying he opposed the use of “any facility or installation” in the state as a Syrian refugee center created a flood of support and criticism from varied politicians and interest groups on both sides of the aisle.

“I know the statement that I issued yesterday on the Syrian refugees provoked some questions, so let me put it into perspective first of all as to where I am coming from,” he told reporters during his brief 20-minute conference call.

The Arkansas governor said he understands the Obama administration’s difficulty in checking the backgrounds immigrants from war-torn areas or countries with a history of terrorism. He said as the former deputy director of the Homeland Security during the Bush administration, he was tasked with setting up a security office in Saudi Arabia after the 9-11 attacks.

“A number of Saudi Arabians immigrants participated in that attack on the World Trade Center, and I personally went to Riyadh to review the security office and the means by which we tried to determine whether an immigrant or visitor to the U.S. poses a risk,” the governor said. “So, I personally understand that challenge even in an environment where we have good information.”

Hutchinson said he decided to joined 27 (as of noon Tuesday) other U.S. governors rebelling against President Obama’s Syrian immigration policy because he believes the U.S. doesn’t have the necessary capabilities to vet refugees.

“That has been confirmed by the intelligence community, but it has also been confirmed by my own personal experience, and so that is the reason I expressed my opposition to the president’s policy (until) we have confidence the security of the United States is protected,” Hutchinson said. “And we should not be allowing relocation of Syrian refugees in the United States, and as governor I understand this is a federal policy, but it is important to express a governor’s viewpoint – it is important to express opposition to a federal policy that couldn’t endanger our citizens.”

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Hutchinson added that the second reason he issued a statement on Monday is because he wanted to quash speculation and assure citizens that there was not going to be an immigrant relocation center in Arkansas.

“The rumors were abundant that … our was state targeted for a relocation center for a significant number of Syrian refugees – and I wanted to assure people that’s not the case and that we oppose such a relocation center in Arkansas for the reasons I have already stated,” Hutchinson said.

The popular Republican governor said Arkansans have previously accepted and welcomed refugees from troubled regions across the globe, going back to the Vietnam War and the Cuban refugee crisis in the 1970s and 1980s.

He cited the settlement of thousands of Vietnamese in the 1970s at Fort Chaffee as evidence of Arkansas’ participation in a successful U.S. resettlement process. But he offered that the settlement of roughly 25,000 Cuban refugees at Fort Chaffee later in the 1980s was an example of a failed U.S. foreign policy.

“From the Fort Smith perspective and the Northwest Arkansas perspective, that went awry. We had the federal government sending in what they said were Cuban refugees without adequate security and adequate checks, but with their assurances that everything was fine,” he said. “And yet, we later find out that Fidel Castro had actually opened up some of his prisons and sent people with mental health problems, they had criminal backgrounds and were violent – and they were mixed into the population and it caused a security issue for our state.”

Despite his reticence to bringing Syrian refugees to Arkansas, Hutchinson said he does not believe there should be a “religious test” to admitting refugees into the U.S. as suggested by some Republicans, including presidential candidates Jeb Bush and Ted Cruz. President Obama has called suggestions of such a policy “shameful” and “un-American.”

“If there is someone fleeing with their family from a war-torn country seeking refuge, you don’t make a distinction based on a (religious) basis,” Hutchinson said, echoing the president’s stance. “Part of my policy and beliefs, I recognize that in the United States and worldwide, there are Muslims that hate what happened in the terrorist attacks in Paris and other instances across the globe, and we need to have relations with those moderate Muslims and respect their contributions here in America.”

Hutchinson said he would participate Tuesday evening in a “governors-only” conference call with the White House to discuss the Syrian refugee policy. He added, “I will express my views on that call as well.”

Earlier in the conference call with reporters, Hutchinson said he had visited with Japanese executives from Hino Motors and Tokusen, which both have U.S. operations in Marion and Conway, respectively. He said he confirmed with Hino officials they are moving forward with previously announced plans from more than a year ago to expand their Marion plant, which manufactures auto axles and suspensions for Toyota and other automakers. That $55 million expansion is expected to create more than 200 jobs, and move the east Arkansas plant closer to its goal of hiring 600 Arkansas workers.

The Arkansas governor also said he has met with executives from two Japanese “prospective companies,” who plan to expand in the U.S. in the future.

“They had limited familiarity with (Arkansas), but they are planning expansions in the future and investments in the United States, so it was a great opportunity to make the case on behalf of Arkansas,” he said.

Hutchinson will end his three-day visit in Japan by taking a four-hour “bullet train” ride from Tokyo to Nagoya, where he will meet with American Chamber of Commerce officials and speak to other industrial prospects.

On Thursday, Hutchinson and Arkansas Economic Development Commission Executive Director Mike Preston will travel to China to meet with government, business and economic development officials in that country, which has no corporate presence in Arkansas. The governor’s business travels to the Far East ends Tuesday, Nov. 24, just ahead of Thanksgiving.