City
Epaper

Texas to reject new refugees under Trump order

By IANS | Updated: January 11, 2020 14:20 IST

Greg Abbott, the Republican Governor of Texas, has said that the state would not accept new refugees under President Donald Trump's resettlement programme. a media report said on Saturday.

Open in App

In a letter to the State Department on Friday, Abbott said that Texas had done "more than its share in assisting the refugee resettlement process", and argued that the state should be focused on "those who are already here, including refugees, migrants, and the homeless", the BBC report said.

On that basis, Abbott said he "cannot consent to initial refugee resettlement" in 2020, but added that the decision "does not deny any refugee access" to the US.

Refugees who are already settled in other states, Abbott said, would be allowed to move to Texas if they choose.

Texas has large refugee populations in several of its major cities. In the 2018 fiscal year, Texas took in 1,697 refugees - more than any other state, but a large drop from 4,768 in the previous fiscal year.

Abbott's decision means Texas will become the first US state known to do so, the BBC report added.

In September 2019, President Trump announced that states must actively consent to any resettlement of refugees after June 2020.

So far, the Governors of more than 40 other states have said they would opt in to the government programme.

Trump has made reducing immigration a key aim of his administration. He has slashed the number of refugees allowed into the country for the 2020 fiscal year to 18,000 - a record low.

About 30,000 refugees were resettled in the US during the previous fiscal year.

The previous lowest admissions figure was in 2002, after the 9/11 attacks, when about 27,000 refugees were allowed into the US.

( With inputs from IANS )

Tags: TexasAbbottustrumpbbc
Open in App

Related Stories

International‘False God’: Alexander Duncan’s Comment on Hanuman Idol in Texas Triggers Backlash

InternationalTexas Shooting: 6 Injured at El Paso Commissioner's Corner Apartments

InternationalIndian-Origin Man Beheaded In US In Front Of Family After Violent Dispute

BusinessAnil Ambani’s Reliance Power and Reliance Infra Shares Zoom Even as Indian Markets Tumble Amid US Tariffs

InternationalMissouri House Blast: 5 Injured After Huge Explosion Damages 20 Homes in St Louis County

International Realted Stories

InternationalEarthquake of magnitude 3.6 rocks Myanmar

InternationalPakistan: At least 13 die in two separate road accidents in Balochistan

InternationalCalls for accountability over enforced disappearances in Pakistan grow at UN

International3 dead in Morocco as protests intensify

InternationalEAM Jaishankar, Aviation Minister Kinjarapu join Airbus-IndiGo reception in Delhi