In his letter, Traylor wrote that “Texas accepts approximately 10 percent of all refugees resettled in the United States – more than any other state”.
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In an effort to stop Syrian refugees from settling in Dallas, the state of Texas filed a lawsuit on the federal court against the U.S. government.
Nirenberg did not specifically comment on the expected influx of Syrian refugees, but a local assistance agency said they’re coming and Texas Gov. Greg Abbott should back off his objections.
Abbott has insisted he has the legal authority to refuse to accept Syrian refugees, citing a specific part of federal law requiring resettlement nonprofits to work “in close cooperation and advance consultation” with the state. Gov. Abbott’s decision came shortly after the series of attacks in Paris.
The Obama administration, through the Office of Refugee Resettlement, warned states in a letter last week that “states may not categorically deny ORR-funded benefits and services to Syrian refugees”.
Other states that have received Syrian refugees since March 2011 include: Arizona (182), IL (170), Pennsylvania (161), Florida (142), Kentucky (101), New Jersey (99), OH (89), MA (72), Georgia (69), North Carolina (56), NY (55), CT (51), Maryland (43), Tennessee (42), IN (39), Washington (38), Idaho (37), Missouri (29), Virginia (26), Colorado (18), Louisiana (14), Utah (12), Kansas (8), Nevada (8), Minnesota (7), New Mexico (6), OR (6), New Hampshire (3), Oklahoma (3), Wisconsin (2), Arkansas (1), ME (1), and West Virginia (1).
The Kirk campaign said about $180,000 is being spent to air the ad on TV, a relatively tiny sum.
Anne Marie Weiss Armush, president of Dallas Fort Worth International Community Alliance, says Syrians are already put through a more extensive screening process than other refugees. However, some resettlement agencies have diverted refugees from the states. The group receives federal funding and operates through the state’s refugee resettlement program within its Health and Human Services Commission.
McDonough says the State Department would update the information monthly on a password-protected website. “If you remain unwilling to cooperate with the state on this matter, we strongly believe that a failure to cooperate with the State on this matter violates federal law and your contract with the state”. Dalrymple said he wanted to wait until more strict screening processes were in place following the Paris terrorist attacks that included Syrian immigrants. The committee’s answer was yes; the Dallas office plans to welcome several families of Syrian refugees over the course of the next couple weeks, she said. It leads the country in the number of refugees given safe haven.
But as of Monday afternoon, that organization had not received a letter from the state similar to the one received by the International Rescue Committee, a Catholic Charities spokeswoman said.
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Larry Treleaven, Rugby, N.D., said he read the article on a conservative news site and became concerned when the article mentioned the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe reservation in North Dakota as one of the refugee locations.
