BOISE, Idaho (AP) - Idaho Gov. C.L. “Butch” Otter says he chose the wrong word in his recent remarks acknowledging his preference that Christian refugees should be treated as a priority.
Otter, speaking at an Idaho Press Club event Tuesday, said he believes in religious preference, not religious discrimination. When pressed on the difference between the two, Otter said the United States has an obligation to protect groups being targeted for discrimination.
“The United States has always made preference for people that were in peril,” Otter said. “When they see a particular group of people creating genocide on others, we create a preference for those.”
Otter has been a growing critic of the nation’s refugee program, often expressing frustration that governors do not have authority to block refugees from settling in their communities as under the Refugee Act of 1980.
However, he took one step further last week in an interview with Idaho Public Television while discussing President Donald Trump’s immigration ban that targets seven predominantly Muslim nations. Otter said Christians should be treated as priority in the U.S. refugee program and then agreed that his stance was discriminatory.
On Tuesday, Otter at first said that the reporter interviewing him should not have used the word discriminatory. He quickly retracted that claim and conceded he either should have declined to answer the question or should have used a different word. Otter went on to argue that Trump’s order was not a “ban” - even though the president has described the action as such.
“It isn’t a ban,” Otter said. “It’s a 90-day slowdown, and I can understand why Trump did that as quick as he did.”
The executive order signed by Trump suspended immigration from the seven countries for 90 days and all refugee resettlement for 120 days. It provided exceptions for refugees who practice a religion that makes them a minority in their home country. The order has since been blocked by a federal judge.
In 2015, in the aftermath of the coordinated attacks in Paris, Otter called for the immediate halt of resettling new refugees until vetting rules can be reviewed and state concerns about the program can be addressed.
Boise, the capital, is one of a handful of smaller U.S. cities that has accepted Syrian refugees, at 108. Most refugees in the state settle there or in Twin Falls.
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