State lawmakers will receive an update this Tuesday on how Gov. Greg Abbott’s directive concerning Syrian refugees is being implemented and whether resettlement groups are complying.
The House’s Committee on Human Services is expected to hear from the state agency overseeing the Texas Refugee Resettlement program, the head of the Texas DPS and from faith-based groups that work with Syrian refugees.
After being denied a request to ban the resettlement of Syrian refugees by a federal judge in North Texas, the state’s Health and Human Services Commission is moving forward with the other components of the governor’s directive. They will update the legislature about the state’s efforts to assess the risk of each refugee being resettled in Texas.
Abbott and the State Commission’s Executive Director Chris Traylor maintain their assertion that an ISIS terrorist could get into Texas by infiltrating the states refugee population.
Traylor will also update lawmakers on a lawsuit and temporary restraining order filed by the Texas Attorney General in an attempt to get non-profits to stop helping the federal government relocate Syrians in Texas.
In his ruling on whether the State could temporally halt the resettlement of Syrians in Texas, Dallas Federal Judge David Godbey wrote, “The State argues that terrorists could have infiltrated the Syrian refugees and could commit acts of terrorism in Texas and the Court finds that evidence to be largely speculative hearsay.”
The committee is also expected to hear from the refugee coordinator for Catholic Charities of Fort Worth, who will provide insight on how the governor’s new rules are affecting faith-based groups that help with the resettlement process. Catholic Charities declined a request for an interview, citing safety concerns, but would not elaborate on the details of those concerns.
Since the Nov. 13th attacks in Paris, resettlement groups working with the federal government have help relocate 21 Syrian refugees to Texas.
