Texas agency sues to block Syrian refugees, cites state's 'sovereign authority' to protect residents
The Texas Health and Human Services Commission has filed a federal lawsuit in a bid to block the resettlement of six Syrian refugees in Dallas.
The suit against the federal government and the nonprofit International Rescue Committee says resettlement of the refugees raises “reasonable concerns about the safety and security of the citizenry of the state of Texas,” the Dallas Morning News Trail Blazers Blog reports. Also reporting on the suit are the Wall Street Journal (sub. req.), Courthouse News Service and Reuters.
The suit says Texas “has the sovereign authority and duty to protect the safety of its residents.”
The suit also cites a statutory requirement that the federal government “consult regularly” with states about the intended distribution of refugees before their placement.
“Instead of adhering to that statutory framework,” the suit says, “the federal government and the Committee have left Texas uninformed about refugees that could well pose a security risk to Texans and without any say in the process of resettling those refugees.”
Texas accepts about 10 percent of all refugees resettled in the United States, more than any other state, the suit says.
