Texas Governor Greg Abbott (R) has been facing a barrage of criticism from the Left over his decision to not resettle more refugees in the state of Texas, The Hill reports.
Using the authority granted to him by an executive order signed by President Trump last year, Governor Abbott announced that Texas would opt out of accepting any new refugees in 2020, the first state to do so. Subsequently, both the Houston Chronicle and the Dallas Morning News published op-eds criticizing Abbott.
In the Chronicle’s hit piece, the editorial board falsely claimed that refugees “have a legal right to seek asylum in the United States,” and declared that “the pressing needs of refugees” are more important than protecting American citizens. The Dallas Morning News’ article called Abbott’s decision “a departure from an American spirit of helping refugees,” and said that America must “create space for people with clear and approved asylum claims.”
Abbott’s decision comes as 18 Republican governors, as previously reported, have accepted more refugees into their states, forgoing the exemption that President Trump allowed them to take to reject refugees if they so choose. Governors in such states as Arkansas have even pushed to make welfare immediately available to refugees and other illegals, such as Medicaid and food stamps.