Greg Abbott Orders Faith-Based Nonprofits To Stop Resettling Syrians

Texas GOP Gov. Greg Abbott is all about protecting religious liberty — except when he’s not. 

If the issue is same-sex marriage, for example, Abbott supports allowing government employees like Kentucky clerk Kim Davis to opt out of doing their jobs if they have religious objections. 

“Texans of all faiths must be absolutely secure in the knowledge that their religious freedom is beyond the reach of government,” Abbott said in a statement responding to the U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling in Obergefell v. Hodges. “The government must never pressure a person to abandon or violate his or her sincerely held religious beliefs regarding a topic such as marriage.”

Likewise, if the issue is reproductive rights, Abbott believes employers should be allowed to opt out providing health coverage to women. In 2012, then-Attorney General Abbott joined five other states in filing a lawsuit against the federal government over the contraceptive mandate in the Affordable Care Act. 

“Obamacare’s latest mandate tramples the First Amendment’s freedom of religion and compels people of faith to act contrary to their convictions,” Abbott said at the time. “The very first amendment to our Constitution was intended to protect against this sort of government intrusion into our religious convictions.”

But now that the issue is Syrian refugees, Abbott appears perfectly willing to trample on the First Amendment rights of faith-based nonprofits. Under Abbott’s direction, the executive commissioner of the Texas Health and Human Services Commission penned a letter to nonprofit agencies last week demanding that they comply with the governor’s efforts to block Syrian refugees. 

“If you have any active plans to resettle Syrian refugees in Texas, please discontinue those plans immediately,” Commissioner Chris Traylor wrote.  

Some agencies, including Catholic Charities of Dallas, have indicated they won’t go along with the directive from the governor (who happens to be Catholic). 

“Catholic Charities believes in a compassionate response to those who are fleeing violence and persecution around the world. We are called by the Gospel to reach out to all those in need,” Catholic Charities said in a statement.

Bee Moorhead, executive director of Texas Impact, a faith organization that works closely with refugee aid agencies, expressed shock and dismay at Abbott’s letter.

“We are deeply concerned that the Governor’s letter directs those agencies to interfere with the religious freedom of faith-based humanitarian agencies working in Texas,” Moorhead wrote. “As we read the Governor’s letter, he appears to be directing state agencies to pressure faith-based organizations to violate the sincerely held beliefs of their religious traditions.

“The vicious and inhuman acts perpetrated in Paris, Beirut, and around the world on unsuspecting civilians by terrorists appall people of all faiths,” she added. “However, Governor Abbott’s fearful response now threatens to provide precisely the reaction terrorists hope to achieve-scapegoating of entire national and religious groups, and division among religious communities. Additionally, it runs roughshod over the freedom of religious humanitarian organizations in Texas to practice their faith.” 

Abbott, of course, is one of more than two dozen governors who’ve said they’ll stop accepting Syrian refugees in the wake of the Paris terror attacks, even though they apparently lack the legal authority to turn them away. But Abbott has gone a step beyond most others. In addition to impinging on the religious liberties of nonprofit agencies, Abbott has violated Syrian refugees’ civil rights by ordering the Department of Public Safety to track those already in Texas. 

In an effort to justify his ridiculous actions, Abbott recently claimed eight Syrian refugees had been “caught” crossing the Texas border in Laredo. As it turned out, two Syrian families had actually turned themselves in, prompting Politifact to rate Abbott’s claim as “mostly false.” 

THIS is why Texas is vigilant about Syrian refugees–> REPORT: 8 Syrians Caught at Texas Border in Laredo. #tcot https://t.co/trfqhGcNAu

— Greg Abbott (@GregAbbott_TX) November 19, 2015

By Monday, Abbott had begun raising money based on his opposition to resettling Syrian refugees: 

Obama is attacking me for protecting U.S. from Syrian refugees who may be dangerous. Join my fight. https://t.co/WRzv5r6CGZ

— Greg Abbott (@GregAbbott_TX) November 23, 2015

Worst of all, Abbott’s rhetoric may be fanning the already fervent flames of anti-Islamic hatred among right-wingers in Texas. Over the weekend, protesters staged an armed rally outside a mosque in Irving, wearing bandanas over their faces and carrying long guns. 

“They’re mostly for self-defense or protection,” one protester with a 12-gauge rifle told The Dallas Morning News. “But I’m not going to lie. We do want to show force. … It would be ridiculous to protest Islam without defending ourselves.”

Fortunately, not all elected officials in Texas are as crazy as Abbott. Among those who showed up at the protest was Irving City Councilman Chris Palmer. 

“My initial impression was they were using them for intimidation,” Palmer told The Dallas Morning News, referring to protesters’ guns. “I doubt that they’d be happy if some of the Muslim churchgoers here showed up at their Christian church, their Baptist church, their Methodist church tomorrow morning with rifles slung over their shoulders.”

Meanwhile, Austin Mayor Steve Adler and Dallas Mayor Mike Rawlings have publicly rejected misleading, reactionary, xenophobic rhetoric from the likes of Abbott. Rawlings told MSNBC on Saturday that such rhetoric only plays into the hands of ISIS.

“ISIS wants us to be divided on this issue. ISIS wants us to demonize these Syrian refugees, wants us to alienate these children,” Rawlings said. “ISIS is no more Islamic than the Nazi senior staff was Christian, so we’ve got to differentiate between those. … I am more fearful of large gatherings of white men that come into schools, theaters and shoot people up, but we don’t isolate young white men on this issue.”

 

Image by Gage Skidmore via Flickr and a CC license