'Utterly Shameful': Progressives Slam Texas GOP Gov. Greg Abbott's Decision to Refuse New Refugees

Progressive politicians, refugee advocates, and human rights groups swiftly condemned Republican Gov. Greg Abbott’s announcement on Friday that Texas will no longer accept the resettlement of new refugees—a move enabled by an executive order President Donald Trump signed in September.

“This is not what America is supposed to be about. Under my administration we will not turn our backs on refugees.”
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Along with slashing the refugee cap for the 2020 fiscal year to a record low of 18,000, Trump issued an order requiring the federal government to get written consent from states and localities prior to resettling refugees. In response to that order, Abbott sent a letter (pdf) to U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo informing him that “Texas cannot consent to initial refugee resettlement for FY2020.”

Abbott, who noted that the decision does not deny refugees access to the United States or bar refugees from moving to Texas after initially settling elsewhere, said that approximately 10% of all refugees in the U.S. have settled in his state over the past decade. The governor wrote that “in addition to accepting refugees all these years, Texas has been left by Congress to deal with disproportionate migration issues resulting from a broken federal immigration system.”

RAICES, the largest immigration legal services nonprofit in Texas, charged in a series of tweets that Abbott’s move was “prompted by xenophobia and fear,” and that “there’s absolutely no reason for this decision.”

“We’ve an important announcement to share on Monday that will make Abbott regret this,” RAICES added. “Stay tuned…”

Julián Castro—a former Democratic presidential candidate and mayor of San Antonio—took to Twitter Friday to forcefully speak out against the Abbott’s political track record and recent decision about refugees. According to Castro: “Governor Abbott has targeted the homeless, scapegoated immigrants and refugees, and handed out blank checks to big corporations. His fear-mongering doesn’t represent our state.”

Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), a leading candidate in the 2020 Democratic presidential primary race, called the governor’s decision “utterly shameful.” The White House hopeful tweeted that “this is not what America is supposed to be about. Under my administration we will not turn our backs on refugees.”