Officials in Texas issued a warning to refugees groups in the state, informing them if they accept refugees from Syria they are at risk for getting sued.
Texas health commissioner Chris Traylor issued the first lawsuit threat over the Thanksgiving holiday weekend in a letter to the Dallas branch of the International Rescue Committee, which said earlier this month that it supports accepting Syrian refugees.
"We have been unable to achieve cooperation with your agency," Traylor wrote in the letter, which was released to the Houston Chronicle late Sunday, adding that, "Failure by your organization to cooperate with the State of Texas as required by federal law may result in the termination of your contract with the state and other legal action."
Texas Governor Greg Abbot is one of more than 30 state governors who have raised concerns about accepting Syrian refugees, some of who might have connections to Syria-based terror group ISIS. His office is expected to send letters to any group that takes a similar position to accept the refugees.
Abbot's office said that the governor supports the health commissioner's letter, which includes not only a legal threat but the raises possibility that groups might have their state funding cut-off.
Executive director of Texas Impact, a faith-based group that has ties to refugee groups was critical of the state's action.
"This letter should raise serious concerns for refugees currently receiving assistance in Texas, and also for legislators - who should be asking what fiscal impact the Texas Health and Human Services Commission could be bringing down on the state through its increasingly contentious communications," Moorhead said. "The health commission interacts collegially and effectively every day with multiple federal agencies, so it's astonishing to see these kinds of communications coming from the agency."
But Governor Abbott is a constitutional lawyer and former Texas Supreme Court justice who claims he has authority over the refugee resettlement groups under state law that says the groups must "cooperate" with state officials.
