Illinois' Republican Governor, Bruce Rauner, is denouncing recent anti-Muslim statements from his party's frontrunner for president. But Rauner is sticking to his position on Syrian refugees. As IPR's Amanda Vinicky reports ... he's even taking it a step further.
Rauner described Donald Trump's call for a ban on Muslims entering the U.S. as "an extreme action."
RAUNER: What he's proposing is just fundamentally counter to American values.
Rauner then took pains to distinguish Trump's plan from his policy to block Syrian refugees from moving to Illinois. Critics say governors don't have the legal authority to block refugees, and it's discrimination to block out any one group. But this time, Rauner didn't just single out Syrians.
RAUNER: I have asked the Obama administration to take a pause - it's not a long-term action but a pause - in our acceptance, our welcoming, of refugees from Syria and Iraq.
In statements outlining his refugee policy, Rauner has never included Iraqis.
