State of Texas withdraws request for temporary halt of Syrian refugees, but wants hearing
The battle over Syrian refugees took an unusual turn today when the state of Texas withdrew its request for a temporary halt to the resettlement of families in Dallas and Houston.
It came after the Justice Department and the ACLU filed lengthy briefs on behalf of a refugee relief agency that contended the Texas Health and Human Services Commission sought “unwarranted veto power over individual federal refugee resettlement decisions.”
The state of Texas said it still wanted a preliminary injunction hearing in Dallas on or before December 9th before U.S. District Judge David Godbey, a Republican appointee of former President George W. Bush. Texas Gov. Greg Abbott is one of more than two dozen governors who have raised security concerns about the resettlement of Syrians following the Paris terrorist attacks in mid-November.
Justice Department attorneys said the state “has made no showing that these refugees pose any threat, much less an imminent one, to the safety or security of Texas residents or any other Americans.”
Read more: http://trailblazersblog.dallasnews.com/2015/12/opposition-to-halt-filed-in-dallas-federal-court-on-behalf-of-syrian-refugees.html/