Texas Eases Back Immediate Call To Block Syrian Refugees From Entering The State

In this Saturday, Nov. 28, 2015 photo, Syrian refugee children run at a temporary refugee camp in Irbil, northern Iraq. Some 240,000 refugees who fled the fighting in Syria now live in Iraq. Their children are neithe... In this Saturday, Nov. 28, 2015 photo, Syrian refugee children run at a temporary refugee camp in Irbil, northern Iraq. Some 240,000 refugees who fled the fighting in Syria now live in Iraq. Their children are neither citizens of Syria, their families’ country of origin, or of Iraq, the country where they now live. (AP Photo/Seivan M. Salim) MORE LESS
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Texas announced Friday it will not block refugees slated to land in the state December 7 from entering, but it still wants the case heard in court.

The state of Texas is suing the federal government and the resettlement agency International Rescue Committee (IRC) for failing to communicate enough in compliance with a 1980 refugee resettlement law. Both IRC and the Department of Justice have been working to resettle two families of refugees in the state and have upheld that they have the right to direct them to Texas.

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott announced in the wake of the Paris attacks that he would keep refugees out until he was convinced they were properly vetted.

Friday afternoon, Texas withdrew its temporary restraining order to keep the refugees from coming next week, but they want an injunction hearing to be held on or before December 9.

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Notable Replies

  1. Awwh, darn! I did want to see Abbott personally arrested, after blocking the refugees from entering TX, by Federal Marshalls slapping him into jail. Darn!

  2. I work a stone’s throw from the Governor’s Mansion and I’d walk over to see that! Pssst. Don’t tell him I’m the one who’s been throwing the stones.

  3. Abbot and the rest of the people in Texas’s government obviously don’t know that it takes 18-24 months to allow a Syrian refugee into this country because the vetting process goes through many levels and to many departments including Homeland Security, DOS, DOD, FBI, etc. Only 1800 have been admitted in the past two years, can’t imagine there’d be an increase in settlement any time soon.

  4. Well, perhaps the Syrians can petition for refugee status in Mexico, then, according to Texas they can just walk north across the border.

    Personally, I’d recommend the multi-year vetting process, but it does reduce government involvement, which I’ve heard Texas is a big fan of.

    Or, Texas could just request the refugees be placed on one of the freaky fundamentalist cult compounds that seem to be common on the state. The refugees will high-tail it to a saner state in a matter of days.

  5. DepEnds ON the SIZe of their CALVes.

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