Texas health officials say other resettlement groups are cooperating, though IRC is not the only group in Texas that has pledged to continue accepting Syrians.
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And yet, more are being resettled in Texas.
Plans have been in place for six Syrian refugees to be resettled in Dallas this week.
“There are no Syrian cases for resettling in North Dakota”, Dykshoorn said. He said there is an apartment awaiting his family members.
Groups supporting potential refugees fear the dueling letters will cause confusion.
Despite those assurances, some GOP lawmakers are agitating to use the spending bill as a vehicle to stem the refugee resettlement program.
The controversy over Syrian refugees and where they will be placed is blowing the lid off the federal government’s refugee resettlement program as governors are learning just how secretive this program really is.
“The policy that violates our Constitution and the rule of law – that’s exactly how I feel”, she said.
We don’t know whether Islamic State or other terrorist organizations are infiltrating refugees to gain entry to Europe or the United States. Funds to provide housing, clothing, and other assistance are distributed jointly by state and federal offices through contracts with partners such as IRC.
But the money starts at the Office of Refugee Resettlement at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, according to Duvin’s office.
In one letter, a Texas state official warned a Dallas group that its contract with the state will be in jeopardy if the agency does not abide by Gov. Greg Abbott’s request for a temporary halt of the settlement of Syrian refugees in Texas.
Texas has been incredibly generous. It is important to underscore that individuals seeking resettlement as refugees are among the most carefully vetted people to enter our country.
Gov. Kate Brown applauded actions announced by the White House on Monday to provide all governors with more information about refugees entering their states.
The competing directives put International Rescue Committee in Texas in the middle of a legal war of words that may someday be hashed out in the courts.
Pence and Christie have vowed to close their states completely to Syrian refugees if they can’t get the information they want – setting up a legal showdown over who has ultimate authority over the refugee program, the states or the White House. She added that denying Syrian refugees could open the door for discrimination lawsuits. In a November 25 letter, which you can read here, Chris Traylor, executive commissioner of the Texas Health and Human Services Commission, threatened to cut off state funding to the Dallas branch of the International Rescue Committee if they don’t comply with the Governor’s directive.
“We have a cooperative agreement (with the federal government) that mandates our services”, Duvin said.
“There’s no real legal claim here”, she said.
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“It’s not going to be worth the governor suing the national government”, Jean Sherrill, manager of the private Center for Refugee Services, told Watchdog.org.
