The state of Texas filed a lawsuit Wednesday against the federal government and a resettlement agency to block Syrian refugees from being resettled in the state.
The suit was filed by Texas’s Health and Human Services Commission in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas.
The move comes as a family of Syrian refugees was poised to fly from Jordan and arrive in Texas Friday, in defiance of Gov. Greg Abbott’s directive that no more Syrian refugees should be resettled in his state.
Texas is alleging the federal government did not consult with the state as required under the Refugee Act of 1980. Texas is also alleging it is “undertaking more than its share” of the burden or resettling refugees and that the state has welcomed more refugees than any other in the country.
The state claims that “in light of these concerns with the federal government massively expanding the admission of refugees who have materially supported terrorists,” it was not kept adequately in the loop about who may be coming to their state.
Texas is asking not to have to resettle refugees until Dec. 9 at the earliest. They are requesting a hearing on a preliminary injunction on that date.
