Abbott orders state police to check if refugees in Texas are dangerous.
Abbott wants Syrians in Texas to get 2nd look
AUSTIN — Texas Gov. Greg Abbott ramped up his campaign against Syrian refugees Tuesday, ordering the state health commission to tell resettlement organizations not to accept people fleeing the war-torn country and directing law enforcement officials to find out whether those already in the state are dangerous.
The moves, which were detailed in a letter obtained by the Houston Chronicle, served as a doubling down of the Republican governor’s hard-line position against President Obama’s plan to allow at least 10,000 refugees into the United States.
Thirty governors have come out against the plan in the days since terrorists thought to have ties to the Syria-based Islamic State killed at least 129 people in Paris. The governors have cited fear that terrorists could pose as refugees and then conduct attacks here. Abbott went a step further Tuesday by focusing on people who have already made it through back-
ground checks and other hurdles in the yearslong refugee process.
“I direct the Texas Department of Public Safety to work with federal and local officials to ensure any refugees already in this state do not pose a risk to public safety,” Abbott wrote in a letter to Col. Steve McCraw, the department’s director.
More than 200 Syrian refugees were resettled in Texas during the fiscal year that ended Aug. 31, according to the state health commission. Twenty-one more have been resettled since the beginning of September.
Overall, there are 70,000 refugees from 78 countries living in Houston alone and about 4,800 who came to Harris County just last year, mostly from Iraq and Cuba.
The governor’s office described the move as “precautionary” and “not in response to a specific threat.” A public safety department spokesman declined comment.
Alter resettlement plan
Abbott also asked Chris Traylor, the executive commissioner of the Texas Health and Human Services Commission, to formally amend the state’s Refugee Resettlement State Plan to exclude Syrians and to communicate his views to all social-services agencies hat participate in resettlement.
The latter move may represent the governor’s effort to get local organizations on board with his directive, which some experts have said will be difficult to enforce because of how the federal officials in charge of refugee efforts could work directly with resettlement entities.
“As you are aware, I sent a letter to President Obama yesterday informing him that the State of Texas will not participate in the resettlement of Syrian refugees in the wake of recent deadly terrorist attacks in Paris,” Abbott wrote to McCraw and Traylor. “I direct your agencies to use your full authority to comply with this direction.”
One of 30 governors
The letter came on a day when Texans and others across the country grappled with the ramifications of the positions of the governors, which included 29 Republicans and Democrat Maggie Hassan of New Hampshire, who is running for the U.S. Senate.
Obama scheduled an evening conference call to talk to the governors about the situation.
Also Tuesday, Abbott appointed a state refugee coordinator, Cecile Young, the health commission’s chief of staff. GOP state Sen. Charles Perry of Lubbock, a supporter of Abbott’s stance, asked Attorney General Ken Paxton to clarify whether it was legal. And state Rep. Tony Dale, R-Cedar Park, a strong supporter of gun rights, turned heads by saying refugee resettlement did not make sense for Texas in part because of the accessible gun-purchase laws.
‘Woefully misguided’
Texas Democrats decried the developments, with Manny Garcia, the deputy executive director of the state party, calling Abbott’s position “woefully misguided” and ignorant of the “security reviews from the State Department, Homeland Security, the U.N., and many other U.S. agencies” in the “incredibly rigorous and comprehensive” refugee screening process.
“We are disappointed that Gov. Abbott has given into the very fear that terrorists are seeking to spark in our communities,” Garcia said. “Texas Democrats know that in these times of crises abroad, more than ever, the United States must lead by our values and principles.”