Despite the vow by Gov. Chris Christie of New Jersey not to accept any more Syrian refugees and withhold state financial support, another Syrian refugee family arrived in the state Monday night.

The family of seven quickly moved into a house near Paterson, and there was seemingly nothing Christie could do about it.

On Nov. 17, in response to the terrorist attacks in Paris, the governor wrote a letter to President Barack Obama saying he was directing the New Jersey Human Services Department not to “participate” in the resettlement of Syrian refugees. Christie, a Republican presidential candidate, later said he would allow Syrians to be settled in New Jersey when the head of the FBI could guarantee they were not terrorists.

Christie has no authority over a federal program that has, for decades, resettled refugees from all nations. Exactly what state services he would withhold from the refugees is unclear. Cutting specific state services — perhaps health care programs or state identification cards — only for Syrians would be a violation of the state’s stringent Law Against Discrimination, according to the American Civil Liberties Union of New Jersey.

“Religious profiling was unconstitutional before the Paris attacks, and it’s still unconstitutional after the Paris attacks,” said Udi Ofer, executive director of the ACLU of New Jersey.

Christie cannot use state resources to try “to bar an entire group of people from coming to our state because of their nationality or religion,” Ofer added.

His organization has submitted a request for public records to clarify what services might be affected; the state has until Friday to respond.

The governor’s office did not respond to multiple requests to specify what services Christie intended to withhold.

In a statement Monday, Brian Murray, the governor’s spokesman, said that “in this case and all prior, the federal government has failed to consult with New Jersey, has shared no security or background information and can give no assurances about the integrity of the resettlement process.

“Rather than address concerns expressed by governors of both parties and the director of the FBI, the federal government has chosen instead to persist with its plan to increase the number of new refugees at a previously unattainable rate. Gov. Christie will remain opposed to the continuation of this program until the fundamental concerns for our national and state security are addressed.”

Christie was one of 30 state governors who said the refugees were not welcome in their states.

Obama said the United States would accept at least 10,000 Syrian refugees this year. The State Department said it had no plans to curtail its programs, which have put refugees in 180 communities across the country. Officials with Church World Service, one of the nine national resettlement groups contracted by the federal government and the one that resettled the family Monday, said it was proceeding as scheduled.

“At the moment we still have not had any notices that public services will not be provided,” said Will Haney, a spokesman for Church World Service.

Haney said the governor had a state refugee coordinator he could consult. The Jersey City office of Church World Service has settled 27 Syrian refugees in the state, including the family on Monday.

With the legal questions still unanswered, local interfaith and community groups have stepped in with donations. An interfaith coalition for refugee resettlement in Highland Park, N.J., has raised $14,000 since Nov. 15, said the Rev. Seth Kaper-Dale of the Reformed Church of Highland Park, who is a leader of the coalition.

“We would be happy to give and to raise as much money for whatever crumbs the governor decides to take away from refugees,” Kaper-Dale said.

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