Texas backs down from effort to block Syrian refugees

“The mayor said he believed it would only be temporary and scolded Texas for not letting the refugees into the state”.

Breitbart Texas asked officials in the Office of the Attorney General to provide information as to what type of information was requested from the federal government about these Syrian refugees and what information was provided by the federal government in response.

There are lots of reasons, as 20 leading national security experts explained in letters to Congress earlier this week (and as Paul Rosenzweig explained in a thorough Lawfare post) to be deeply skeptical of any suggestion that the Syrian refugees pose any greater threat to our national security than any other non-citizen immigrating to the United States.

The federal government has given Texas more information about the Syrian refugees, and now the state has dropped attempts to get a temporary restraining order to keep the refugees out.

Paxton requested a hearing by next Wednesday.

A Syrian family originally scheduled to arrive in Dallas Friday remained in NY while the legal challenges were being contested.

The temporary restraining order was withdrawn after saying the USA government had provided additional information about the refugee group.

Paxton, however, said he is not entirely dropping the lawsuit.

Texas leaders, including Governor Abbott and Attorney General Paxton have expressed concern over the federal government’s ability to properly screen these refugees.

It plans to resettle a family of eight Syrians in Houston on December 10, along with a 26-year-old woman whose mother resides in the area.

Refugee resettlement decisions are the exclusive authority of the federal government, the Justice Department lawyers said, and while the U.S. Refugee Act requires Texas to be consulted at least four times a year to receive updates on refugee programs, it doesn’t require what state officials want – “unwarranted veto power over individual federal refugee resettlement decisions”, the brief said.

Texas “has made no showing that these refugees pose any threat, much less an imminent one, to the safety or security of Texas residents or any other Americans”, the Obama administration told the court. “Immigration policy is the jurisdiction of the federal government, and once refugees are allowed into the country, states can not easily prevent them from entering”.

Texas has led the nation in recent years in the resettlement of refugees, surpassing California. The families arrived in the United States this week, according to court papers.

“I think that it’s the first sign that Texas is beginning to see the light”, said Cecillia Wang of the ACLU, which is defending a resettlement group that Texas also sued.

“All they’re asking for is safety”, said Lucy Carrigan, spokeswoman for the nonprofit International Rescue Committee, which is coordinating the Dallas resettlements. The Obama administration also said the state had “speculative and uninformed fears about security”.