Paxton had accused the International Rescue Committee (IRC), who is coordinating the resettlements, of not providing adequate assurances as to whether the refugees posed a threat to state security and of violating federal law by not cooperating with state authorities’ orders to stop accepting Syrian refugees.
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Texas officials have withdrawn their request for an emergency order blocking a group of Syrian refugees from entering the state and instead are seeking a broader hearing next week on their desire to keep out people fleeing the war-torn country.
A dozen of the refugees bound for Texas arrived in New York on Thursday and Friday and were greeted warmly by Democratic New York Mayor Bill de Blasio.
“The FBI as well as other federal officials have made it clear – they have no ability to ensure the safety and security of the refugees they are admitting into the United States”, Abbott has said. Texas, true to form, has said it won’t back down, though. Plaintiff 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 move likely will allow two Syrian refugees families to enter the state on Monday.
The federal government is arguing that Texas’ argument is “without merit” and says it has met its obligation to “provide advance consultation regarding individual resettlement decisions”. Many of them are children younger than 13 and include grandparents and a single woman hoping to reunite with her mother who is already in Texas.
The governors of more than 30 states, most but not all of the Republican, have said the refugees are not welcome there and that they will do all they an to oppose their settlement.
Twelve of the refugees are arriving in Monday; six in Dallas and six and Houston.
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.
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On Wednesday, the Texas Tribune reported that 242 Syrian refugees have been resettled in Texas over the past three years. Michael Chertoff, a Bush appointee, and Janet Napolitano, an Obama appointee, wrote in a letter to Obama that the vetting process was extensive, taking up to two years with no waiver of any steps. One, a couple and their four children, is scheduled to go to Houston. The family’s expected home is a few miles from the complex where a Liberian man lived previous year before being hospitalized for Ebola.
