Refugees Will No Longer Be Allowed To Resettle in Texas, Governor Abbott Tells Feds

The Rev. John L. McCullough, the president and CEO of Church World Service in New York — one of the three refugee resettlement agencies challenging the Trump administration’s executive order in court — said in a statement that Abbott’s decision is cruel and will lead to family separation, in addition to a lack of supportive services.

Krish O’Mara Vignarajah, the president and CEO of Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Service — another agency challenging the executive order — said she was “incredibly disappointed but not altogether shocked.”

“What this decision did was take away local authority from counties and cities to make their own individual determination, which is tragic because there are so many congregations and communities that do care for a variety of reasons — deeply and passionately — about welcoming refugees,” Vignarajah said. “This feels very heavy-handed.”

In fiscal year 2019, Texas led the nation in resettling 2,458 refugees, or 8.19% of all refugees resettled in the U.S. during that time, according to federal figures.

However, it’s a sharp decline from just a few years ago. In fiscal year 2016, 7,802 refugees resettled in Texas, and at its peak, 8,212 refugees resettled in the state in fiscal year 2009.

Abhi Rahman, a spokesman for the Texas Democratic Party, said Abbott’s decision “will lead to more innocent people dying.”

“Refugees are not political pawns and bargaining chips to advance anti-immigrant policies,” Rahman said in a statement.

In 2016, Abbott removed the state from participating in the federal resettlement program after the U.S. Office of Refugee Resettlement didn’t approve a state plan that would have required national security officials to ensure that refugees don’t “pose a security threat” — part of the state’s efforts to keep out Syrian refugees.