Relief agency to resettle Syrians in Texas despite threats from state

Over the Thanksgiving holiday Texas Health Commissioner Chris Traylor sent a letter to one such organization, a Dallas branch of the International Rescue Committee – a group that helps refugees resettle in the state.

Kudos to Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-South Carolina), who feels that we need to take a timeout in the Syrian refugee program until we have a vetting system “that we think will work”.

The administration of Gov. Greg Abbott, a Republican, said Texas must stop taking in Syrians, however, the White House said last week that state officials lack any legal authority to reject refugees.

The majority of the 132 Syrian refugees permitted to resettle in the US since November 13 (72) are male, the minority female (60).

Regarding the letter, ” They’re fleeing war, are vetted”: The writer took issue with another letter writer who chose to put the word refugees in quotes, as if to indicate that they were not legitimately fleeing threats in Syria. “However, we have been unable to achieve cooperation with your agency”, Mr. Traylor wrote in a letter published by the Houston Chronicle on Sunday. Rosenthal says that this type of letter could be sent to any refugee resettlement group in the state that takes a similar public position.

The State of Texas has always been a safe haven for the world’s most vulnerable refugees.

To date, the IRC has resettled eight Syrian refugees to Texas.

But refugees account for a very small share of the total Syrian immigrant population in the U.S. according to Randy Capps, director of research for U.S. Programs at the Migration Policy Institute.

Potential refugees have to undergo a “multi-layered and exhaustive process” involving several agencies before they are admitted into the United States, a top Homeland Security official said last week in a conference call with reporters.

George estimated there are about 50 individual Syrian refugees in CT, about 12 families in all.

Syrian Community Network, a Chicago-based refugee organization, also found it important for Rauner to meet with Syrian refugees to understand the journey they have endured. “The health commission interacts collegially and effectively every day with multiple federal agencies, so it’s astonishing to see these kinds of communications coming from the agency”.

Applicants are continuously checked against terrorist databases, and if there are doubts about a security risk, the refugee is not allowed into the United States, according to the White House.

Governors, including Abbott, have expressed fears that militants planning a terror attack could enter the country under the guise of seeking refuge from war-torn Syria.

Senators Harvey Peeler, R-Gaffney, and Lee Bright, R-Roebuck, said no refugees should be resettled in the state, period, while Rep. Chip Limehouse, R-Charleston, plans to propose a law barring the use of state money and resources to aid relocating refugees here. She added that denying Syrian refugees could open the door for discrimination lawsuits. And if we cast suspicion on everyone from a largely Muslim nation like Syria, what does it say about Americans’ respect for religious diversity?