Texas hit a major setback on Monday after a federal judge rejected its efforts to block Syrian refugees from resettling in the Lone Star State.
U.S. District Court Judge David Godbey of Dallas ruled on Monday that it was not up to the courts to interfere with issues that should be handled by the executive branch and that Texas officials failed to prove the state could win its lawsuit challenging the process of finding refugees new homes.
“The Court does not deny that the Syrian refugees pose some risk. That would be foolish,” Godbey wrote. “In our country, however, it is the federal executive that is charged with assessing and mitigating that risk, not the states and not the courts.”
The Texas lawsuit, brought against the federal government and a contractor tasked with refugee resettlement, came amid a tense political climate that turned a negative spotlight on the vetting process facing Syrian refugees. A string of terror attacks stoked fears that assailants could take advantage of the U.S. immigration systems to wage future strikes. More than 30 governors responded by threatening to shut out all Syrian refugees until the dust settled.
Texas in December became the first state to take the feds to court over the issue. Alabama followed its lead a month later. In separate suits, state officials claimed that the federal government violated the Refugee Act of 1980 by not consulting states in deciding where Syrian refugees should be placed to live in the United States.









