This comes as multiple governors across the country, including Gov. Mike Pence, have said they will stop Syrian refugees from resettling in their states after the Paris attacks linked to ISIS.
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The resettlement of Syrian refugees in the USA has been under increased scrutiny following the November 13 Islamic State terrorist attacks in Paris.
Several governors – mostly Republican – formally announced their opposition to accepting any new Syrian refugees of their state until they might be assured in that safety safeguards have been in place.
While President Barack Obama has compared the Syrian refugees to the pilgrims that first fled to America, more than 30 governors have pledged to block Syrian refugees from landing in their states.
Faez, a Syrian refugee who spoke some English, confirmed to the Star-Telegram that family members who are in Jordan are scheduled to arrive in Texas this week.
This weekend’s letter from Traylor came in the wake of a request by state officials that the International Rescue Committee disclose whether it is expecting any Syrian refugees, said Donna Duvin, the executive director of the committee’s Dallas chapter. The Obama administration, which says the vetting process is thorough and can take up to two years, has outlined a goal of bringing 10,000 more Syrian refugees to the USA during the current budget year.
“The organization plans to “seek guidance on the ramifications” of federal and state requirements”, he said in a statement.
CNSNews.com has submitted questions to the State Department and its Bureau of Population, Refugees and Migration about the relatively small proportion of Christians among the Syrian refugees admitted to the U.S.
But a state official, speaking on background, said that lawyers for the state believe they are on firm ground threatening a contract termination and potential legal action.
The letter noted that the committee “insists on resettling certain refugees from Syria in the near future” and pointed to comments made by the FBI Director James Comey to Congress regarding the difficulty of conducting security checks. He said the refugees were a security threat. The ACLU filed suit on behalf of a resettlement group in Indiana.
White House Press Secretary Joshua Earnest said Wednesday that the White House “will provide more frequent updates on refugees resettled in their states and increase information-sharing on our extensive security precautions”.
The Texas commission said other resettlement agencies had agreed to find alternative placement options for Syrians who would otherwise relocate to Texas.
“At NGA, we’re very used to distributing information to governors’ offices about what is going on in Washington, D.C., or different activities, so that’s perfectly familiar”, Quam said in an interview.
Opponents of taking in the refugees cite fears that the federal government’s screening process may fail to weed out extremists, a concern the HHS letter addresses.
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Just since 2002, the United Nations and U.S. State Department have delivered 79,377 Muslim refugees to U.S. cities from Iraq, 90,000 from Somalia, 11,000 from Afghanistan and thousands of others from Bosnia, Uzbekistan, Sudan, Democratic Republic of Congo and Burma, according to federal databases.
