Texas, Federal Government Face Off In Court Over Syrian Refugees

Texas on Wednesday said it would sue the federal government over plans to bring two families fleeing Syria into the state.

Texas said in its lawsuit that the federal government and the International Rescue Committee – one of about 20 private nonprofits that have a state contract to resettle refugees in Texas – are violating federal law by moving forward with resettling Syrian refugees in the state after Gov. Greg Abbott ordered them not to do so. The state withdrew that request on Friday, but reserved the right to press in the courts for additional screening measures. Basically, now that Texas knows for sure that the Syrian family and their two little kids totally aren’t terrorists, they’ll let them in; apparently all Syrian refugees are terrorists in Texas’ eyes until proven otherwise.

Justice Department attorneys countered in their filing Friday that Texas officials are trying to exercise “unwarranted veto power over individual federal refugee resettlement decisions” without “showing that these refugees pose any threat, much less an imminent one, to the safety or security of Texas residents or any other Americans”.

Texas sues State Department to block Syrian refugee resettlement A Texas agency has sued the US State Department and Secretary of State John Kerry, among others, seeking to prevent refugees from being resettled in the state.

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

“Though we anticipate New York City will only be a temporary home for these families while the state of Texas pursues a baseless attempt to resist their resettlement in the state, we welcome them with open arms to the city of immigrants”, he said.

Republican Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton had claimed that the IRC handed over few details about the refugees and no assurances about whether they posed a threat.

The Supreme Court will soon decide whether to take up United States v. Texas, a suit by 26 states challenging the deferred action program introduced by President Obama in November 2014.

Twenty-one Syrian refugees, including a dozen children, are set to be resettled next week in Dallas and Houston, the federal government said Friday.

The lawsuit names as defendants various federal entities such as the Department of State, Secretary of State John Kerry, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), and HHS Secretary Sylvia Burwell, as well as International Rescue Committee, Inc., a nonprofit organization involved in refugee resettlement.

Many U.S. state governors, including Texas Governor Greg Abbott, have argued the case that accepting Syrian refugees would raise the risk of inadvertently allowing in those with ties to militants.

However, Paxton is still going forward with the lawsuit. The federal government intends to help them resettle in Dallas and Houston, respectively, on Monday, Dec. 7.

Refugees have been relocating in Texas for years, Syrians included. More than 40 Syrian refugees resettled in Tarrant County since September 2014.