Columbus Mayor Andrew Ginther pitched in with several other mayors in voicing a willingness to accept refugees.

Ginther informed U.S. Secretary of State Michael Pompeo he wanted the refugees, The Columbus Dispatch reported.

Ginther sent a letter referring to President Donald Trump’s executive order in September allowing the federal government to resettle refugees only in areas where local and state officials accept them.

The mayor said Columbus is one of the fastest growing cities in the nation because of diversity. The city has the second largest population of Somali refugees — over 40,000, and two refugee resettlement agencies.

Ginther seems to forget that the 2016 attack on Ohio State University involved a Somali refugee.

In November of that year, police said a Somali refugee — also an Ohio State student — rammed a car into a crowd at the university, got out and used a knife to attack people, CNBC reported.

Reports identified the attacker as Abdul Razak Ali Artan, citing law enforcement sources, CNBC said. Nine people were hurt before the attacker was shot to death.

Earlier this month, Breitbart reported that “nearly 100 mayors across the United States are begging President Trump to import as many refugees to the country as possible in order to ‘bring cultural vibrancy and diversity” to American communities.’”

The plea was a call for Trump to rescind his Sept. 26 executive order, The Ohio Star reported. The list of mayors included Nan Whaley in Dayton.

The executive order revamps the U.S. resettlement system and could drastically reduce, if not entirely stop, the resettlement of refugees in cities. The Administration announced it is slashing the number of refugees who may enter the country in 2020 to 18,000–the lowest since the program began in 1980 and a reduction of nearly 80% from just a few years ago.

One Republican governor has been hard-pressed to defend his decision to allow refugees.

Tennessee Republican Gov. Bill Lee “hemmed, hawed, and waffled” in defending his decision, and even likening himself to President Trump, The Tennessee Star reported. Lee made his stand on Nashville’s Morning News with Brian Wilson, broadcast weekday mornings on 99.7 FM WWTN.

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Jason M. Reynolds has more than 20 years’ experience as a journalist at outlets of all sizes.

Photo “Andrew Ginther” by Andrew Ginther.