Houston Chronicle Jan. 10, 2020
With at least 40 other governors already agreeing to allow refugees to settle in their states this year, Gov. Greg Abbott's decision Friday to bar them from Texas in 2020 is both shocking and incomprehensible.
In a letter to U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, Abbott conflated concerns over illegal immigration with the pressing needs of refugees, who have a legal right to seek asylum in the United States. He told Pompeo that the “broken federal immigration system†means that Texas is already over-taxed with dealing with unwelcome migrants.
"In May 2019, for example, around 100,000 migrants were apprehended crossing this state's southern border," Abbott wrote. “In June 2019, individuals from 52 different countries were apprehended here. And in FY2018, the apprehensions included citizens from disparate countries like China, Iran, Kenya, Russia, and Tonga. Texas continues to have to deal with the consequences of an immigration system that Congress has failed to fix."
Instead of continuing that proud tradition, Abbott has cut it short — leaving men, women and children, coming from places where they fear for their lives, shut out of a state that might well have instead offered them shelter and a fresh start. His decision also deprives cities like Houston of the new residents who might have helped our city grow and prosper, as so many refugees in the past have.
That’s why leaders of all Texas' biggest cites — including Houston, San Antonio, Dallas, Fort Worth and Austin — had already provided their consent letters. Now, however, those agreements have been essentially vetoed by Abbott's decision to keep Texas out of the program.
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