Donald Trump Agrees with Charlie Baker on Syrian Refugees

Donald Trump in Worcester by Garrett Quinn

In what was probably an unwanted overture, New York real estate mogul and Republican presidential frontrunner Donald Trump announced to a room full of reporters on Wednesday that he agrees with Gov. Charlie Baker’s stance on blocking Syrian refugees from entering Massachusetts.

“He’s right. Governor Baker is right. He doesn’t want refugees coming here. We’ll see what happens, but right now he says he doesn’t want them coming here and he’s right,” said Trump, when asked by a reporter about Baker’s position.

Trump, speaking before a campaign rally at Worcester’s DCU Center, went on in his usual animated style, warning about the possibility of Islamic State fighters slipping into the United States as Syrian refugees like a “Trojan horse.”

“I said that if I win if they come here, they’re going back. That’s what I said, because we can’t take a chance on ISIS,” said Trump.

When a reporter pointed out that states do not have any real power over immigration rules and policy, Trump said it “would not bother” him if individual states took a more active role.

“We have tremendous numbers of governors that feel this is insanity to take these people in when we have no documents on them, we don’t know who they are, no documents. They are totally undocumented. We don’t know good, bad, or indifferent. We have governors who are very much opposed to it and I agree with those governors,” said Trump.

The Republican dodged a question when asked if he thought states should check papers and passports at their borders.

“I think the states should have certain powers when Obama lets people in, and if you look at the will of the country, the will of the country says, ‘We need safety right now,'” said Trump.

Baker created a firestorm this week when he announced that he opposes allowing Syrian refugees into Massachusetts until he learns more about the federal government’s resettlement policies.