A federal judge on Wednesday rejected Texas' second attempt to prevent Syrian refugees from being resettled in the state, saying the state's argument that extremists could have infiltrated the refugee program and could terrorize Texas is "largely speculative hearsay."
U.S. District Judge David Godbey in Dallas wrote that the state "failed to show by competent evidence that any terrorists actually have infiltrated the refugee program, much less that these particular refugees are terrorists intent on causing harm," reported the Los Angeles Times.
Republican Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton said in his restraining order request filed Wednesday that new "evidence" suggests that refugees pose a potential danger, citing public comments from Republican Rep. Michael McCaul, chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee, who said federal counterterrorism officials indicated that people with terrorist ties have attempted to infiltrate the U.S. refugee program, according to The Associated Press.
But Godbey said that "The fact that this Court is required to assess the risk posed by a group of Syrian refugees illustrates one of the problems with this case. The Court has no institutional competency in assessing the risk posed by refugees." Such risk assessments are usually the responsibility of the federal government, he said.
The ruling cleared the way for the last of 21 Syrian refugees to resettle in Houston - a family of eight, including six children ages 6 to 15, along with a 26-year-old Syrian women whose mother resides in the area. A dozen others already arrived earlier this week.
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott has mounted the most aggressive campaign of the more than two dozen governors who have vowed to ban Syrian refugees following last month's terrorist attacks in Paris.
"It is essential that a judge consider halting the Syrian refugee process, at least on a temporary basis, to ensure refugees coming to the United States will be vetted in a way that does not compromise the safety of Americans and Texans," Abbott said in a statement.
But the Obama administration insists that its refugee vetting process is extremely thorough and said in a court filing that the states can't block resettlements.
Last week, Texas dropped a previous attempt to block the first wave of refugees after it said the government had provided information it requested about two families of six refugees who arrived in Dallas and Houston on Monday, reports Reuters.
A federal judge is likely to hear a request from Texas in January which seeks an injunction to stop the resettlements.
During the past five years, Texas has settled more Syrian refugees than any state other than California - more than 240 people.
