Cost may be high if Texas quits refugee program

Texas has a long and proud history as the leading state for refugee relocation.

Indeed, the state’s ethnic diversity is the result of its willingness to welcome people from all over the world.

But this week Texas tried to change that for the worse. Gov. Greg Abbott took yet another step to halt the resettlement of Syrian refugees by threatening to withdraw from the federal refugee-resettlement program by the end of the month.

The threat to withdraw is contingent on the federal Office of Refugee Resettlement’s failure to “unconditionally approve” the state’s annual plan before the Sept. 30 deadline.

Texas’ plan would “require national security officials to ensure that refugees do not pose a security threat to Texas,” the governor’s office said in a statement.

Articulating a fear shared by many Americans, Abbott warned that the federal refugee settlement program “is riddled with serious problems that pose a threat to our nation,” and that law enforcement and intelligence agencies have admitted an inability “to fully screen refugees from terrorist-based nations.”

But if the state ceded its administrative role in the resettlement program, that would not prevent refugees from entering Texas.

The federal government could work through nonprofit agencies and faith-based groups, passing federal funds along to those organizations instead.

This raises another concern.

In addition to Texas being viewed as inhospitable to refugees, the loss of federal grant dollars could have a serious impact on the ability of local agencies to provide public health services.

At the Tarrant County Commissioners Court meeting Tuesday, the county health department briefed commissioners on the potential impact of loss of the Refugee Health Program.

A $2.2 million federal grant to the local agency enables the county to provide immunizations, health screenings and treatment to refugees and asylees.

Addressing the court, health director Veerinder Taneja did not hedge. Losing the program, he said, would mean a “significant adverse impact for public health.”

Withdrawing from the federal program would not achieve a goal of preventing refugee resettlement in Texas, and might result in significant public health consequences.

Abbott would do well to reconsider.

This story was originally published September 23, 2016 at 6:44 PM with the headline "Cost may be high if Texas quits refugee program."