Syrian Refugees in Texas

People are too quick to label the whole group of Syrians as risky.

Some Democratic lawmakers, however, have also signaled a willingness to slow down or pause Syrian resettlement. As chair of the committee, Zimmerman controls the agenda and can give his ideas a full hearing, even though there might be little support from the rest of the council.

South Carolina’s Democratic and Republican lawmakers are taking sides in the debate over Syrian refugees, a fight that, as yet, has no battleground in the state.

As for Austin’s stance, Council Member Greg Casar said he will make sure Zimmerman’s resolution does not pass.

The Syrian refugees are fleeing precisely the type of senseless slaughter that happened in Paris. “I understand some people’s concerns about the “other” in our mindsets”, Houston said, while reading from a prepared statement.

The hard-line talk puzzles Rep. James Smith, D-Columbia, a captain in the Army National Guard, partly because of how long it takes to be granted refugee status and be admitted to the United States. She said it was the “compassionate and humane” act to accept Syrian refugees. People feel like they’re not being heard in Washington right now.

The State Department reports would include information on refugees resettled during the prior month and year-to-date, according to McDonough.

Spokesman Josh Earnest said the White House will also share more information with governors on the security process used to vet refugees before they are resettled in the United States.

Terrorists traveling to the USA don’t have to bring guns and explosives with them, Feinstein said.

Zimmerman noted that America already has problems with homegrown terrorists and mass murderers. Obama defended the U.S. resettlement programme, established in the 1970s, which has resettled over three million refugees from war-ravaged countries. Today more than half the nation’s governors are opposed to these refugees, totaling 31 states. The Syrian refugee crisis is the biggest refugee crisis of this generation and the USA shouldn’t ignore its obligation. According to Refugee Services of Texas, 38 Syrian refugees have been placed in Austin since 2010.

During a November 17 news conference at the bishops’ meeting in Baltimore, Archbishop Paul S. Coakley of Oklahoma City, CRS board chairman, pointed out that the violent attack that took place in Paris is “precisely the brutality these refugees are fleeing”.

Fighting back against the closed-door policies of Republican governors, the White House on Monday sent Connecticut Gov. Dannel Malloy and his 49 counterparts a letter spelling out how the federal government will keep states informed on Syrian refugee resettlement. Currently, 31 governors have made such statements, although they lack the legal authority to block refugee admissions.

Indiana Gov. Mike Pence, for example, has directed state agencies not to assist with resettling Syrian refugees, a move now being challenged in court by the American Civil Liberties Union.

“We strongly believe that a failure to cooperate with the state on this matter violates federal law and your contract with the state”, wrote Chris Traylor, the head of state’s health and human services commission, in a letter to the Dallas branch of the International Rescue Committee (IRC). He wanted assurances from the group by Monday.

“States may not deny (Office of Refugee Resettlement)-funded benefits and services to refugees based on a refugee’s country of origin or religious affiliation”, the federal Office of Refugee Resettlement wrote in a letter to Abbott last month, obtained by the Chronicle.

Days after the terrorist attacks in Paris, governors and our elected leaders in Congress have succumbed to panic mongering, calling on the government to halt plans to accept 10,000 innocent and vulnerable Syrian refugees.