Can Governor Abbott block keep Syrian refugees out of TX

Last week, Abbott came under scrutiny after seizing on a headline by conservative news site Breitbart that claimed several Syrians had been “caught” at the U.S.-Mexico border crossing in Laredo, labeling it evidence of the danger presented by Syrian resettlements.

“We are here protesting Syrian refugees coming to America, protesting the Islamization of America”, said David Wright, spokesman for the Bureau of American Islamic Relations.

It ordered “any active plans to resettle Syrian refugees in Texas” to be discontinued immediately.

A few hundred demonstrators, carrying placards and chanting slogans, rallied outside the Texas Governor’s Mansion Sunday to protest Gov. Greg Abbott’s attempts to block refugees fleeing civil war in Syria from settling in Texas.

“It reminds me of the Japanese-Americans that were resettled in the desert”, Weiss-Armush said, referring to USA internment camps from the 1940s.

According to DFW worldwide Community Alliance, there are 102 Syrian refugees in the Dallas-Fort Worth area.

Refugees have to abide by strict security laws before they enter the USA, making the issue less of a concern, Reem Harb, a club member and Middle Eastern studies graduate student, said.

The bill Doggett supported, sponsored by U.S. Rep. Michael McCaul, R-Austin, would require key agency heads, such as the Homeland Security secretary and the head of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, to certify that each refugee seeking resettlement in the US had passed rigorous vetting procedures.

The Times-Review asked Facebook users their thoughts on Abbott’s decision to not accept anymore Syrian refugees.

“The heartless person who lives up there, Governor Abbott, Ken Paxton and 25 other xenophobic governors are stopping our families from applying for expansion of DAPA”, said Montserrat Garibay with Education Austin. “I agree we should take care of those who are here now, but [it’s] easy to forget we were all immigrants if you go back far enough”.

Numerous attackers in Paris were French nationals and lived in Belgium. “We can not be afraid”.

The Governor’s office says Public Safety officials will decide how that will be done. “He’s putting us at a much higher risk”. “Unbelievably, the attacks in Paris still haven’t convinced our commander-in-chief to develop an appropriate course of action to defeat ISIS”.

Williams said despite best efforts, the USA has not been able to make an accurate distinction between true refugees and those posing as such. “And there is no way to weed out future radical Islamist extremists who plan and carry out attacks after they arrive here”.