Texas officials sue to block family of Syrian refugees set to arrive Friday

December 2, 2015 in News by RBN Staff


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Brian M. Rosenthal | Updated 4:52 pm, Wednesday, December 2, 2015

Syrian refugees mass at the Turkish border while they flee intense fighting in northern Syria between Kurdish fighters and Islamic State militants in Akcakale, southeastern Turkey, Monday, June 15, 2015. The flow of refugees came as Syrian Kurdish fighters closed in on the outskirts of a strategic Islamic State-held town on the Turkish border.(AP Photo/Lefteris Pitarakis) Photo: Lefteris Pitarakis, Associated Press

Syrian refugees mass at the Turkish border while they flee intense fighting in northern Syria between Kurdish fighters and Islamic State militants in Akcakale, southeastern Turkey, Monday, June 15, 2015. The flow of refugees came as Syrian Kurdish fighters closed in on the outskirts of a strategic Islamic State-held town on the Turkish border.(AP Photo/Lefteris Pitarakis) Photo: Lefteris Pitarakis, Associated Press

 

AUSTIN — Texas state officials filed a lawsuit Wednesday seeking to keep out a family of Syrian refugees that have been given seats on an flight scheduled to arrive in Dallas from the Middle East on Friday.

The state Health and Human Services Commission filed the lawsuit in a Dallas-based federal court, arguing the risk of “irreparable injury” necessitated a temporary restraining order to block the move.

The state “possesses reasonable concerns about the safety and security of the citizenry of the State of Texas regarding these refugees that may seek resettlement within the State of Texas,” according to the suit.

The move made Texas the first state in the country to sue to block Syrian refugees.

RELATED: Feds tell Texas resettlement agencies that state cannot block Syrians

Earlier, the state had threatened to sue the nonprofit coordinating the move, the International Rescue Committee, and demanded that the group not allow in the family until it provided an array of information about the background checks that were conducted.

CLICK HERE: Read the full lawsuit

The International Rescue Committee responded by saying it would move forward.

“We will continue to abide by the terms of our agreement and continue to resettle refugees, including Syrians, in Texas,” the group wrote in a response to the health commission Wednesday.

The frantic back-and-forth marks a sharp escalation in the battle between the federal government and Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, who has vowed to block all Syrians refugees due to security concerns.

RELATED: Dallas mayor says he fears white mass shooters more than Syrian refugees

The family set to arrive Friday — a man named Tamman and his parents, wife and two young children — currently are staying in Jordan and are planning to board a plane on Thursday with tickets purchased by the U.S. State Department, according to Anne Marie Weiss-Armush, an aid worker assisting with the move.

“It’s kind of nerve-wrecking because it really is a test case,” said Weiss-Armush, president of DFW International, a Dallas nonprofit that helps residents from other countries. “It’s like, is Gov. Abbott going to meet them at the airport and send them away?”

DFW International already has obtained two apartments for the family on the border of Dallas and the northern suburb of Richardson, Weiss-Armush said.

RELATED: Texas to refugee groups: If you let in a Syrian, we might sue you

The International Rescue Committee already had drawn widespread media attention earlier this week when it was reported that the group had received the lawsuit threat over the Thanksgiving holiday.

Abbott, a Republican, is among more than 30 governors who have said they will block Syrian refugees due to security concerns inflamed by the Nov. 13 attacks in Paris, which were carried out by terrorists with ties to the Syria-based Islamic State.

President Obama has stood by his plan to resettle up to 10,000 Syrian refugees in the United States, saying there are strict protocols and that turning them away would be un-American. Legal experts largely have agreed that the president has the power to place refugees directly with refugee resettlement agencies.

RELATED: Abbott says Texas has done more than its share on refugees

An Abbott spokesman said only that the governor “has been very clear on this issue and fully expects all agencies to comply with his directive.”

The International Rescue Committee is among several refugee resettlement groups that have announced that they will not change its plans to resettle Syrian refugees, however.

In addition to Tamman’s family, the group is working to resettle another family of Syrian refugees, spokeswoman Lucy Carrigan said Wednesday. That couple and their young children are expected in Texas next week, Carrigan said.

RELATED: Obama offers governors data on Syrian refugees

The spokeswoman added that the the family serving as the first test case has ties to another Syrian who was resettled here in February — that man, Faez al Sharaa, 28, is Tamman’s half-brother, she said.

Faez, who told TIME Magazine that he fled Syria in early 2013 after being detained at gunpoint, has been very happy in Texas, Weiss-Armush said.

“Like most of the Syrian refugees we serve, he works at Wal-Mart,” Weiss-Armush said, although she added that he is looking for another job. “All he has ever asked me for is a job.”