Texas drops request for emergency order to block Syrian family

But it’s worth flagging a different suit by Texas against the federal government, filed late Wednesday, that seeks an injunction barring the resettlement of Syrian refugees into Texas-on the ground that such resettlement would violate 8 U.S.C. § 1522, a provision that appears to require the federal government to engage in at least some consultation with states on refugee resettlement matters.

Although the Paris attacks prompted Texas’ hardline stance against Syrian refugees, Gov. Greg Abbott has also invoked the mass shootings in Southern California this week that the FBI is investigating as an act of terrorism.

The six refugees flew into NY last night, and it’s unclear whether they will continue on to Dallas as planned. In Texas, the refugees set to arrive next week include a single woman hoping to reunite with her mother.

Legal experts say it’s unlikely Texas will prevail in its lawsuit.

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.

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

“Texas is not discriminating against all refugees, only Syrian refugees”, the International Rescue Committee said in its filing.

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton said the state was satisfied with the federal government’s assurances of cooperation and information sharing about refugees who would be sent to the state.

Texas is among 30 states whose political leaders have vowed to take a hard line against incoming refugees from Syria, and the first to take the issue to court.

The Texas Health and Human Services Commission sued both the United States government and the International Rescue Committee earlier this week to block resettlement in Texas.

As a result of the lawsuit, the federal government revealed that 21 refugees are expected to be delivered to Texas next week, according to KERA News.

Another Syrian family, which includes four children under the age of 13, is scheduled to resettle in Houston on Monday.

Friday afternoon, Texas withdrew its temporary restraining order to keep the refugees from coming next week, but they want an injunction hearing to be held on or before December 9.

Attorneys for the state had argued in their lawsuit that the federal government and the refugee groups left Texas officials “uninformed about refugees that could well pose a security risk to Texans”.

The Justice Department said it would review Texas’ complaint, but the White House has not commented. The federal government argued in court paper that Texas was seeking “an unwarranted veto power over individual federal refugee resettlement decisions”.

Once refugees are cleared by the State department, they are assigned to one of nine national refugee resettlement organizations that place people in communities across the country. In November, Breitbart Texas’ Lana Shadwick reported on testimony given by some of President Obama’s top advisors on national security who admitted that screening these refuges is not likely to be effective.