N.Y. Hardware Store Welcomes Syrian Refugees as Employees Despite Paris Terror Attack

A hardware store in Manhattan, New York has reportedly announced that it will be welcoming Syrian refugees fleeing violence in the Middle East despite the call of several U.S. governors to halt refugee acceptance in the U.S.

Sean Wankel, vice president of Wankel's hardware store, recently told the New York Times that his local business has, in the past, hired refugees from foreign countries escaping persecution by moving to the United States.

"People coming from really bad situations, trying to make a better life in America," Wankel told the media outlet in a recent interview regarding the refugees they hire, either for just a few months or years at a time. 

As the New York Times reports, the hardware store has reportedly employed refugees from over three dozen countries in the world.

New Jersey Governor Chris Christie said in a statement this week that he does not think the U.S. has a strong-enough vetting process for refugees entering its borders.

"I do not trust this administration to effectively vet the people who are proposed to be coming in," Christie said earlier this week during a radio interview.

Although several governors have argued that they will no longer accept refugees into their states following the Paris terror attacks that killed 129, other groups have argued that the United States needs to continue helping those in need.

Amy Rowell, director of the Moline, Illinois office for the evangelical World Relief aid group, told the local KWQC-TV that accepting refugees is the Christian thing to do.

"Jesus commanded us to love our neighbors," Rowell said. "The parable of the good Samaritan comes to mind, making it absolutely clear that our neighbors cannot be limited to those of our same ethnicity or religious traditions."