The bipartisan group of former officials said they opposed the legislation, arguing that the vetting of refugees is thorough.
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Rauner’s one of some 30 governors nationwide who’ve said no to taking in people fleeing war-ravaged Syria.
In addition to the concerns voiced by top officials about the lack of data to fully vet the refugees coming to the US, at least two of the terrorists gained access to Europe by posing as Syrian refugees.
Under the “new” program, the State Department would compile a state-specific report on refugees resettled the prior month and prior fiscal year to date, upon the request of any governor.
Pence says he appreciates the outreach from chief of staff Denis McDonough promising breakdowns of refugees by age, gender and nationality. The information would be available through a password-protected website.
Ann Corcoran, the watchdog author of the Refugee Resettlement Watch blog, called the Obama administration’s “new” data program “laughable” because there is nothing new about it.
“The White House is snookering these governors”, she said. “They want division, and that’s what we are giving them”. We’ll let you know after the fact.’ When in reality that information is already out there on the Internet.
“The threat to the US homeland from refugees has been relatively low”.
Syrian refugees in the United States have become a political football after the Paris attacks. They can also apply for other grants to provide specialized services to the refugees. The process takes around two years and has been effective thus far.
Carrigan said that the IRC has “had a longstanding presence in Texas”, and intends to continue “working with state officials to work through this particular issue and to assuage their fears”. It leads the country in the number of refugees given safe haven. “The Ethiopian Development Council gets to know but not the governors”.
And the problem goes way beyond the 10,000 Syrian refugees that Obama is bringing into the United States.
The federal Office of Refugee Resettlement last week warned Abbott and other governors that they do not have the power to reject Syrian refugees, telling them they would be breaking the law if they denied benefits or services to refugees based on their country of origin or religion.
Weiss-Armush said that if the family arrives, it will test the “authority of a governor to challenge the State Department refugee policy”.
Donna Duvin, executive director of committee’s Dallas chapter, said yes.
After resettlement, refugees are helped by regional non-governmental organizations.
Should state agencies face consequences for violating Gov. Abbott’s orders?
One family is expected to join relatives in Richardson within days. “And majority are women, elderly and children”, said Feldmann.
Refugee resettlement in the United States is completely funded by the federal government, but the state is in charge of contracting with local nonprofit organizations and distributing federal dollars to those agencies.
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Abbott and other governors are asking for more intense screening requirements for refugees, even though refugee advocates say the current process is extremely stringent.
