Texas Immigration Lawsuit Seeks To Block Syrian Refugees

A Texas immigration lawsuit filed this week seeks to prevent six Syrian refugees from finding new homes in Dallas. The Texas immigration lawsuit names both the federal government and an international nonprofit as defendants. The suit claims that terrorists could be posing as refugees and that bringing in families who have been fleeing from the conflict in Syria “could well pose a security risk to Texas.” Attorneys for the Obama Administration claim that the states do not have the legal authority to block refugees.

Details of the Texas Immigration Lawsuit

Governor Greg Abbott filed the Texas immigration lawsuit against the administration. He joins more than 20 other Republican state governors seeking to block refugees from the Syrian conflict from entering the United States. The Texas immigration lawsuit comes just weeks after the terrorist attacks in Paris. The governors have expressed similar concerns that terrorists could be hiding among the refugees. Almost 200 Syrian refugees have already found new homes in the U.S. since the Paris attacks.

Texas Immigration Lawsuit Questions Screening Process

The Texas immigration lawsuit called for a moratorium on all new Syrian refugees scheduled to enter the state until federal officials “satisfy our concerns with the effectiveness of the screening procedures.” The suit claimed that the federal government left the state “uninformed about refugees” who could be potential terrorists. The Texas immigration lawsuit seeks to place a delay of at least a week on the arrival of any new refugees until a federal judge can consider the complaint.

Relief Group Disputes Texas Immigration Lawsuit

The International Rescue Committee, the nonprofit group organizing the relocation of thousands of Syrian refugees, issued a statement in response to the Texas immigration lawsuit. The statement read, in part, that the agency “has worked in coordination with Texas officials for 40 years.” The group also disputed the fears that prompted the Texas immigration lawsuit, stating that “refugees are victims of terror, not terrorists.” A spokeswoman for the group also stated that two more Syrian families, in addition to the six mentioned in the lawsuit, are expected to arrive in Texas by the end of the year.

Is Texas Immigration Lawsuit Valid?

Some legal observers believe that the Texas immigration lawsuit does not have a legal basis. The Refugee Act of 1980 states that the federal government has sole jurisdiction over the disposition of foreign refugees. Several federal court decisions, including at least one U.S. Supreme Court case, have upheld that law. The IRC claims that Syrian refugees are among the most vetted of those from any country, with a two-year vetting process and thorough background checks to ensure that they have no ties to terrorist groups.

Source: ABC News

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