“Texas is not discriminating against all refugees, only Syrian refugees”, the International Rescue Committee said in its filing. A local relief group called the National Rescue Committee will help them join family members already living here.
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Republican Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton on Friday withdrew a request for a temporary restraining order that sought to stop six Syrian refugees from coming to Dallas.
Texas was one of 29 other states whose governors have said that they will try to block refugees from entering-a move which the Obama administration has repeatedly said is not within their authority.
Texas backed down after the Obama administration and the ACLU filed court papers challenging the lawsuit.
“Our state will continue legal proceedings to ensure we get the information necessary to adequately protect the safety of Texas residents”, Paxton said.
Martin Cominsky leads the Houston office of Interfaith Ministries, an organization that also has experience working with refugees, and thinks the arguments made by Texas’ officials don’t make much sense. The family, consisting of a mother and father, two children and their grandparents is now expected to arrive in Dallas Monday.
Texas leaders, including Governor Abbott and Attorney General Paxton have expressed concern over the federal government’s ability to properly screen these refugees.
Although the Paris attacks prompted Texas’ hardline stance against Syrian refugees, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott has also invoked the mass shootings in Southern California this week that the Federal Bureau of Investigation is now investigating as an act of terrorism. Durvin said she then again provided information after receiving two letters from the state last month.
November 25: The Roman Catholic bishops of Texas said that Catholic refugee agencies won’t comply with the state directive to stop resettling Syrians in Texas.
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Paxton said the federal government has been asking contractor agencies to take the refugees in Texas and withhold “even basic information that would help Texas’s security concerns”.
