In a court filing, the Obama administration on Friday said that the six-person Syrian family whose scheduled arrival to Texas prompted the state’s lawsuit will stay in New York City over the weekend instead of flying to Dallas on Friday as planned.
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Accordingly, the state has withdrawn a request for a Temporary Restraining Order, but continues to seek an injunction requiring the federal government to comply with its statutory duty to consult with Texas in advance of resettling refugees.
Paxton wanted a federal judge to immediately halt the resettlements, but dropped that request Friday after the Obama administration and ACLU attacked the state’s argument in court papers as frivolous.
The U.S. government and an global humanitarian organization have asked a judge to reject attempts by Texas to block Syrian refugees from resettling in the state.
According to the court filings, 12 Syrian refugees who are headed for Texas arrived in NY yesterday and today. Those refugees will include twelve children between the ages of two and fifteen, four parents, two grandparents and a Syrian woman whose mother now lives in Houston. Our nation can welcome refugees desperately seeking safety and ensure our national security.
The federal government announced earlier Friday that the two families would be coming Monday. As additional information is gathered, it will be shared with the court and state officials, the brief said.
The suit, filed Wednesday, declares that Texas would not allow resettlement of Syrian refugees because it did not have the proper amount of information on those entering the country through the refugee resettlement program.
The results of this case could determine whether the governors of more than 30 states will be able to go through with plans to bar the local resettlement of Syrian refugees. The lawsuit argues that the federal government and resettlement group have not fulfilled their contractual obligations to consult with, and provide information to, state officials.
On Wednesday, the Texas Tribune reported that 242 Syrian refugees have been resettled in Texas over the past three years.
LM Otero/AP Syrian refugee Mohammad word al Jaddou (front) stands in front of his siblings Maria (right) and Hasan at their apartment in Dallas.
Texas this week asked a federal court to block the arrival of Syrian refugees, citing concerns about whether new arrivals are sufficiently screened for security.
The Obama administration’s plans to resettle Syrian refugees fleeing that country’s civil war have sparked controversy following the Paris terror attacks.
“All they’re asking for is safety”, said Lucy Carrigan, spokeswoman for the nonprofit International Rescue Committee, which is coordinating the Dallas resettlements.
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“We are confident that the IRC has always acted in accordance with the law when it comes to our work to assist refugees who have been given sanctuary in Texas”, said Jennifer Sime, senior vice president of the International Rescue Committee.
