Following the terror attacks in Paris last month, Wyoming Governor Matt Mead joined several other governors in saying that he does not think the state should accept any Syrian refugees until more security checks can be promised by the federal government.
Currently, Wyoming has no refugee resettlement program, and Mead admits that puts the state at a disadvantage.
"Other states that have refugee programs that get quarterly reports of who’s coming in, how many are coming in. We just are - we get secondary refugees. I don’t know that number. I don’t know what services they have. I certainly don’t know where they’re from," says Mead.
The governor is now looking to the Wyoming Humanities Council to explore the issue. The Council will hold public forums, discussions, and panels on what a refugee program might look like in Wyoming starting early next year.