Texas withdraws from U.S. Refugee Admissions Program

Texas Senator Ted Cruz (left) and Governor Greg Abbott (right) seem to be in sync this week on protecting Texas from not adequately screened refugees.

This is a major blow to the US Refugee Admissions Program since Texas is, by far, the largest resettlement state in the nation.

The governor’s complaint is that the federal government cannot adequately assure the state of Texas that all of the refugees from the Middle East and Africa being placed there are thoroughly screened. 

And, in fact, that was confirmed in Senate testimony we heard this week (click here).  At that hearing Senator Cruz of Texas elicited some damning testimony from federal officials.

The arrogant federal resettlement contractor will of course claim they can still operate in Texas as a so-called Wilson-Fish state like more than a dozen other states operate where there is no state government involvement. However, the Wilson-Fish program itself is constitutionally questionable and Governor Abbott, if serious, could block that too with a legal challenge.

But, at least in the short run, the program will be seriously disrupted and that alone will send ripples through the entire refugee industry.

Here is the news (at Breitbart) that happened on the eve of the new fiscal year (tomorrow!) which will see a massive inflow of refugees especially from Syria and other hotbeds of terrorism unless the Republican Congress cuts the funding for the program when Congress reconvenes after the election in November.

Governor Greg Abbott has officially pulled the plug on Texas’ participation in the federal refugee resettlement program after the Obama Administration rejected specific security conditions.

The move by the Texas governor stops the Texas Health and Human Services Commission (THHSC) from coordinating the resettlement of these refugees that the Obama Administration has repeatedly said they cannot certify not to be a threat to the residents of the state. His action follows the rejection of a proposal announced previously where Texas officials demanded a certification that the refugees were not a security threat and a limit on the number of refugees to the original 2016 plan.

“Texas has repeatedly requested that the Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Director of National Intelligence provide assurances that refugees resettled in Texas will not pose a security threat, and that the number of refugees resettled in Texas would not exceed the State’s original allocation in fiscal year 2016 – both of which have been denied by the federal government,” Abbott said in a statement obtained by Breitbart Texas. “As a result, Texas will withdraw from the refugee resettlement program. As governor, I will continue to prioritize the safety of all Texans and urge the federal government to overhaul this severely broken system.”

Go here for more details.

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