So all of these cowardly governors are essentially merely making horrible symbolic statements:
State governments often play a small role in helping to resettle refugees. But despite protests from more than a dozen Republican governors who want to close their states to Syrian refugees, those governors probably have little power to stop them from coming, legal scholars say.
"The one thing I feel very comfortable saying is there is absolutely no constitutional power for a state to exclude anyone from its territories," said Stephen Legomsky, a Washington University of St. Louis law professor and former chief counsel of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services in the Obama administration.
A growing number of Republican governors have protested the resettlement of Syrian refugees since the terrorist attacks in Paris last Friday. At least one of the Paris attackers was carrying a Syrian passport — but French officials said Saturday that the passport was a fake.
Still, the Paris attacks have reopened the debate over the Obama administration's decision in September to accept 10,000 Syrian refugees over the next year.
The Republican governors have taken a range of approaches to the issue, but none has explained how they would legally keep Syrian refugees out. Whether states have to actively cooperate those those resettlements is another question, and that's where many of the governors are trying to exert leverage.
Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal, a Republican presidential candidate, signed an executive order Monday directing state agencies to "utilize all lawful means to prevent the resettlement of Syrian refugees." Syrian refugees already in the state will be "monitored" by the Louisiana State Police, the order said. A spokesman declined to elaborate on what those lawful means are.
But most governors have simply asked the president to rethink his Syrian refugee policy. "I urge you, as president, to halt your plans to allow Syrians to be resettled anywhere in the United States," Texas Gov. Greg Abbott wrote in a letter Monday. "Neither you nor any federal official can guarantee that Syrian refugees will not be part of any terroristic activity. As such, opening our door to them irresponsibly exposes our fellow Americans to unacceptable peril."
President Obama didn't address the governors directly Monday. But after securing an agreement from industrialized nations to do more to help with refugee resettlement. he told reporters, "the United States has to step up and do its part."
"And when I hear folks say that, well, maybe we should just admit the Christians but not the Muslims, when I hear political leaders suggesting that there would be a religious test for which person who's fleeing from a war-torn country is admitted, when some of those folks themselves come from families who benefited from protection when they were fleeing political persecution, that's shameful. That's not American, it's not who we are,” Obama said. He urged American political leaders “not to fall into that trap, not to feed that dark impulse inside of us.”
State Department spokesman Mark Toner said Monday that he couldn't address whether the states have the legal authority to block the resettlements. "It's a valid question, I just don't want to give you an off-the-cuff answer," he said.
But he also said he doesn't expect a constitutional showdown. "Let's not get ahead of ourselves here. We have seen some of these letters, some of these public remarks. We’re going to engage with these governments, these localities, and we're going to address their concerns," he said.
"We're confident that we have a process in place to allow the safe resettlement of Syrian refugees," Toner said. "We wouldn't, to be perfectly honest, try to increase the number of refugees if we couldn't be sure they could be safely vetted."
The Refugee Act of 1980 requires the State Department to maintain "an effective and responsive liaison" with governors and mayors, but doesn't give governors any formal role in resettlement.
"Most of these resettlement decisions are partnerships with churches and private organizations that are offering to resettle," said Anna Law, a political scientist at Brooklyn College who's studied the history of state efforts to limit immigration. "I think this is political posturing. The decision to admit refugees is made at the federal level. Whether these refugees are admitted to the United States, that is not their call."
States do have a small amount of financial leverage through their state resettlement offices. Many of the governors have directed their state offices not to participate in helping to relocate Syrian refugees in their states. It's unclear what effect pulling that support could have.
“Governors can talk about pulling their consent and funding, but most of the state money is federal pass-through dollars," said Matthew Soerens, spokesman for World Relief, a non-profit contractor with the State Department to resettle refugees. “It’s important to remember that once refugees are here, they are free to move anywhere they want. It would be a scary proposition for governor’s to start talking about closing borders.”
http://www.press-citizen.com/story/...rs-have-little-power-block-refugees/75888766/
State governments often play a small role in helping to resettle refugees. But despite protests from more than a dozen Republican governors who want to close their states to Syrian refugees, those governors probably have little power to stop them from coming, legal scholars say.
"The one thing I feel very comfortable saying is there is absolutely no constitutional power for a state to exclude anyone from its territories," said Stephen Legomsky, a Washington University of St. Louis law professor and former chief counsel of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services in the Obama administration.
A growing number of Republican governors have protested the resettlement of Syrian refugees since the terrorist attacks in Paris last Friday. At least one of the Paris attackers was carrying a Syrian passport — but French officials said Saturday that the passport was a fake.
Still, the Paris attacks have reopened the debate over the Obama administration's decision in September to accept 10,000 Syrian refugees over the next year.
The Republican governors have taken a range of approaches to the issue, but none has explained how they would legally keep Syrian refugees out. Whether states have to actively cooperate those those resettlements is another question, and that's where many of the governors are trying to exert leverage.
Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal, a Republican presidential candidate, signed an executive order Monday directing state agencies to "utilize all lawful means to prevent the resettlement of Syrian refugees." Syrian refugees already in the state will be "monitored" by the Louisiana State Police, the order said. A spokesman declined to elaborate on what those lawful means are.
But most governors have simply asked the president to rethink his Syrian refugee policy. "I urge you, as president, to halt your plans to allow Syrians to be resettled anywhere in the United States," Texas Gov. Greg Abbott wrote in a letter Monday. "Neither you nor any federal official can guarantee that Syrian refugees will not be part of any terroristic activity. As such, opening our door to them irresponsibly exposes our fellow Americans to unacceptable peril."
President Obama didn't address the governors directly Monday. But after securing an agreement from industrialized nations to do more to help with refugee resettlement. he told reporters, "the United States has to step up and do its part."
"And when I hear folks say that, well, maybe we should just admit the Christians but not the Muslims, when I hear political leaders suggesting that there would be a religious test for which person who's fleeing from a war-torn country is admitted, when some of those folks themselves come from families who benefited from protection when they were fleeing political persecution, that's shameful. That's not American, it's not who we are,” Obama said. He urged American political leaders “not to fall into that trap, not to feed that dark impulse inside of us.”
State Department spokesman Mark Toner said Monday that he couldn't address whether the states have the legal authority to block the resettlements. "It's a valid question, I just don't want to give you an off-the-cuff answer," he said.
But he also said he doesn't expect a constitutional showdown. "Let's not get ahead of ourselves here. We have seen some of these letters, some of these public remarks. We’re going to engage with these governments, these localities, and we're going to address their concerns," he said.
"We're confident that we have a process in place to allow the safe resettlement of Syrian refugees," Toner said. "We wouldn't, to be perfectly honest, try to increase the number of refugees if we couldn't be sure they could be safely vetted."
The Refugee Act of 1980 requires the State Department to maintain "an effective and responsive liaison" with governors and mayors, but doesn't give governors any formal role in resettlement.
"Most of these resettlement decisions are partnerships with churches and private organizations that are offering to resettle," said Anna Law, a political scientist at Brooklyn College who's studied the history of state efforts to limit immigration. "I think this is political posturing. The decision to admit refugees is made at the federal level. Whether these refugees are admitted to the United States, that is not their call."
States do have a small amount of financial leverage through their state resettlement offices. Many of the governors have directed their state offices not to participate in helping to relocate Syrian refugees in their states. It's unclear what effect pulling that support could have.
“Governors can talk about pulling their consent and funding, but most of the state money is federal pass-through dollars," said Matthew Soerens, spokesman for World Relief, a non-profit contractor with the State Department to resettle refugees. “It’s important to remember that once refugees are here, they are free to move anywhere they want. It would be a scary proposition for governor’s to start talking about closing borders.”
http://www.press-citizen.com/story/...rs-have-little-power-block-refugees/75888766/
