DALLAS, Texas -- Greg Abbott le envió el lunes una carta al presidente Barack Obama para informarle que el estado de Texas no aceptará a ningún refugiado de Siria a raíz de los recientes atentados mortales ocurridos en París.
El gobernador Abbott también le pidió al presidente "detener sus planes para aceptar más refugiados sirios en los Estados Unidos en su totalidad, ya que el gobierno federal no tiene la información necesaria para llevar a cabo revisiones con eficacia sobre los antecedentes de los originarios de Siria".
"Teniendo en cuenta los trágicos atentados en París y las amenazas que ya hemos visto, Texas no pueden participar en cualquier programa que resulte en la reubicación de sirios en Texas", dijo Abbott en la carta dirigida a Obama. El gobernador dijo que cualquiera de ellos podría estar conectado con el terrorismo.
Abbott dijo que partir del lunes 16, el Programa de Refugio y Reasentamiento del Departamento de Salud de Texas tiene instrucciones de no participar en la reubicación de ningún sirio que busque refugio en el estado de Texas.
Obama por su parte declaró que las personas que están huyendo de Siria son las más afectadas por el terrorismo, "son los más vulnerables a consecuencia de la guerra civil, son padres, son niños, son huérfanos. Y es muy importante que no cerremos nuestros corazones a estas víctimas de tal violencia".
La misiva original, a continuación:
The Honorable Barack Obama
President of the United States
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW
Washington, D.C. 20500Dear President Obama:
As governor of Texas, I write to inform you that the State of Texas will not accept any refugees from Syria in the wake of the deadly terrorist attack in Paris.
Further, I - and millions of Americans -implore you to halt your plans to accept more Syrian refugees in the United States. A Syrian "refugee" appears to have been part of the Paris terror attack. American humanitarian compassion could be exploited to expose Americans to similar deadly danger. The reasons for such concerns are plentiful.
The FBI director testified to Congress that the federal government does not have the background information that is necessary to effectively conduct proper security checks on Syrian nationals, Director Comey explained: 'We can query our database until the cows come home, but there will be nothing show up because we have no record of them."
The threat posed to Texas by ISIS is very real. ISIS claimed credit last May when two terrorist gunmen launched an attack in Garland, Texas. Less than two weeks later, the FBI arrested an Iraqi-born man in North Texas and charged him with lying to federal agents about traveling to Syria to fight with ISIS. And in 2014, when I served as Texas attorney general, we participated in a Joint Terrorism Task Force that arrested two Austin residents for providing material support to terrorists -including ISIS.
Given the tragic attack in Paris and the threats we have already seen in Texas, coupled with the FBI director's acknowledgment that we do not have the information necessary to effectively vet Syrian nationals, Texas cannot participate in any program that will result in Syrian refugees -any one of whom could be connected to terrorism - being resettled in Texas.
Effective today, I am directing the Texas Health & Human Services Commission's Refugee Resettlement Program to not participate in the resettlement of any Syrian refugees in the State of Texas. And I urge you, as president, to hatt your plans to allow Syrians to be resettled anywhere in the United States. 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.
Respectfully,
Greg Abbott
Governor
El gobernador Abbott también le pidió al presidente "detener sus planes para aceptar más refugiados sirios en los Estados Unidos en su totalidad, ya que el gobierno federal no tiene la información necesaria para llevar a cabo revisiones con eficacia sobre los antecedentes de los originarios de Siria".
"Teniendo en cuenta los trágicos atentados en París y las amenazas que ya hemos visto, Texas no pueden participar en cualquier programa que resulte en la reubicación de sirios en Texas", dijo Abbott en la carta dirigida a Obama. El gobernador dijo que cualquiera de ellos podría estar conectado con el terrorismo.
Abbott dijo que partir del lunes 16, el Programa de Refugio y Reasentamiento del Departamento de Salud de Texas tiene instrucciones de no participar en la reubicación de ningún sirio que busque refugio en el estado de Texas.
Obama por su parte declaró que las personas que están huyendo de Siria son las más afectadas por el terrorismo, "son los más vulnerables a consecuencia de la guerra civil, son padres, son niños, son huérfanos. Y es muy importante que no cerremos nuestros corazones a estas víctimas de tal violencia".
La misiva original, a continuación:
The Honorable Barack Obama
President of the United States
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW
Washington, D.C. 20500
Dear President Obama:
As governor of Texas, I write to inform you that the State of Texas will not accept any refugees from Syria in the wake of the deadly terrorist attack in Paris.
Further, I - and millions of Americans -implore you to halt your plans to accept more Syrian refugees in the United States. A Syrian "refugee" appears to have been part of the Paris terror attack. American humanitarian compassion could be exploited to expose Americans to similar deadly danger. The reasons for such concerns are plentiful.
The FBI director testified to Congress that the federal government does not have the background information that is necessary to effectively conduct proper security checks on Syrian nationals, Director Comey explained: 'We can query our database until the cows come home, but there will be nothing show up because we have no record of them."
The threat posed to Texas by ISIS is very real. ISIS claimed credit last May when two terrorist gunmen launched an attack in Garland, Texas. Less than two weeks later, the FBI arrested an Iraqi-born man in North Texas and charged him with lying to federal agents about traveling to Syria to fight with ISIS. And in 2014, when I served as Texas attorney general, we participated in a Joint Terrorism Task Force that arrested two Austin residents for providing material support to terrorists -including ISIS.
Given the tragic attack in Paris and the threats we have already seen in Texas, coupled with the FBI director's acknowledgment that we do not have the information necessary to effectively vet Syrian nationals, Texas cannot participate in any program that will result in Syrian refugees -any one of whom could be connected to terrorism - being resettled in Texas.
Effective today, I am directing the Texas Health & Human Services Commission's Refugee Resettlement Program to not participate in the resettlement of any Syrian refugees in the State of Texas. And I urge you, as president, to hatt your plans to allow Syrians to be resettled anywhere in the United States. 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.
Respectfully,
Greg Abbott
Governor
