Texas has threatened to kill funding and sue social services organizations if they defy Gov. Greg Abbott’s refusal to accept Syrian refugees – an order Abbott issued without the legal power to do so.
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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. He says it would break down refugees by nationality, gender and age range. In addition, every applicant undergoes in-person interviews, has a check against the fingerprint databases of both the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Defense Department and is subjected to what the State Department calls the highest level of security screening. Why not convene a meeting with governors from both parties on all sides of this debate, showing that the administration takes their misgivings seriously, is open to improvements and, most importantly, wants to bring the discussion back to a rational level?
“As part of our mission and mandate from the U.S. Federal government, we will continue to resettle refugees in Texas and other states”, a spokeswoman for the International Rescue Committee said in response to a Reuters email.
A copy of the letter from White House Chief of Staff Denis R. McDonough to Snyder, dated Monday, was obtained by The Detroit News.
“Your agency insists on resettling certain refugees from Syria in the near future”.
“Texas will not accept any Syrian refugees & I demand the US act similarly”, Abbott tweeted on November 16.
But a state official, speaking on background, said that lawyers for the state believe they are on firm ground threatening a contract termination and potential legal action. According to current reports, the Obama administration is moving to increase and accelerate the number of Syrian refugees who might be admitted into the United States by opening new screening outposts in Iraq and Lebanon.
That move would streamline and speed up a system that already pushes out much of that state-by-state data.
Syrian refugees are the most vetted group of people to come to the United States. “These are people who are fleeing violence and persecution inflicted by extremist groups and armed actors – some of whom are the same groups who took those innocent lives in Paris, Beirut, and on a Russian airliner”. People are too quick to label the whole group of Syrians as unsafe. The family had to flee Syria when Faez was held at gunpoint by a group of armed militants in his home town of Daraa.
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Elizondo said the vetting process for the Syrian refugees is extensive, and characterized those pushing back against resettlement efforts in the United States after the Paris terrorist attacks as “using this tragedy to scapegoat all refugees”. The Texas commission said other resettlement agencies had agreed to find alternative placement options for Syrians who would otherwise relocate to Texas.
