Free Republic

(Texas Tribune) -- Texas has officially withdrawn from the nation’s refugee resettlement program, Gov. Greg Abbott's office said Friday. But that won't stop the federal government from continuing to help refugees relocate here. Citing security concerns, Abbott's office said Texas will no longer participate in the federal program, which helps thousands of refugees from around the world resettle in the state. State officials threatened last week to withdraw from the resettlement program if the feds did not “unconditionally approve” its amended state plan to only accept refugees who “are fully vetted and do not present a security threat” — part...

Texas, which has taken in more refugees than any state in the nation over the past year, is threatening to leave the federal refugee program if the Obama administration does not meet its security demands. The dispute comes as the Obama administration has announced a new goal of resettling 110,000 refugees in the United States in the coming year, including an unspecified increase in the number from Syria. In a letter Wednesday to Robert Carey, director of the federal Office of Refugee Resettlement, the Texas Health and Human Services Commission said that unless Washington "unconditionally" approves the state's new plan...

Texas' efforts to halt the arrival of Syrian refugees have been blocked by a federal judge, who rejected Republican leaders' claims that refugees pose an imminent risk or that states deserve a say in resettlements. The ruling comes days after presumptive Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump called to block non-citizen Muslims from entering the U.S. following the Orlando nightclub massacre. U.S. District Judge David Godbey, who was appointed by President George W. Bush, had previously knocked Texas for offering "largely speculative hearsay" about extremists possibly infiltrating Syrian refugees. His ruling, which was signed Wednesday, rejected arguments that the Obama administration...

Texas on Thursday lost its fight against the resettlement of Syrian refugees in the state, ending a monthslong battle during which refugees from the war-torn country continued to arrive. Dealing the final blow to Gov. Greg Abbott’s effort to keep Syrian refugees out of the state, a federal judge dismissed Texas’ lawsuit against the federal government and a refugee resettlement agency over the resettlement of the refugees. In an order dated Wednesday and released Thursday, Dallas-based U.S. District Judge David Godbey said the stat