*Note: When this post was originally published the number was 6 states. It is now 28 states. This map shows the latest additions including Massachusetts and Maine.
Over the weekend, I published a post titled A Message to Europe – Prepare for Nationalism, which discussed, amongst many other things, the impact increased anti-refugee sentiment would have on European politics in the coming years. Although I didn’t expect the anti-refugee sentiment to emerge so rapidly in these United States, based on the headlines I’m seeing today, it undoubtably has.
From Reuters:
Texas, Arkansas, Indiana and Louisiana on Monday joined two other U.S. states in saying they will no longer accept Syrian refugees, contending it is too dangerous to let in people from that war-torn country following Friday’s deadly Paris attack.
Republican Governors Greg Abbott of Texas, Asa Hutchinson of Arkansas, Mike Pence of Indiana and Bobby Jindal of Louisiana, followed the lead of Alabama and Michigan in saying their states would no longer help support the Obama administration’s goal of accepting 10,000 Syrian refugees in the coming years.
“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,” Abbott said in an open letter to U.S. President Barack Obama on Monday. “Neither you nor any federal official can guarantee that Syrian refugees will not be part of any terroristic activity.”
But it was unclear what authority governors had to stop admitting refugees into their states, legal experts said.
“The federal government has the power over immigration. If they admit Syrian refugees, they’re here,” said Deborah Anker, a professor of law at Harvard Law School who specializes in immigration issues. “People aren’t going to the (state) border. The federal government is going to bring them in.”
The United States admitted 1,682 Syrian refugees in the federal fiscal year that ended Sept. 30, a sharp jump from the 105 admitted a year earlier. Texas, California and Michigan accepted the largest number of people fleeing the war.
As mentioned above, it doesn’t seem clear what options these various states have in practice to refuse refugees if the feds let them in. As such, you have to wonder if this is nothing more than political bluster. It will be interesting to see how this unfolds.
For related articles, see:
A Message to Europe – Prepare for Nationalism
Does the Migrant Crisis Represent the End of the European Union?
In Liberty,
Michael Krieger
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Oddly enough, the state line here is exactly in line with the US Constitution, which forbids the federal government to regulate immigration and leaves it up to the states (Article I, Section 9, which could have been amended any time after 1808, but never was).
Of course, an activist Supreme Court miracled up a federal power to that effect in 1875 and things have been going downhill since. And of course I don’t PERSONALLY see that magic state-level gang turf lines carry any more moral authority than magic federal-level gang turf lines. But still, it’s interesting to see states actually trying to claim their constitutional prerogatives.
While ISIS (America’s CIA + British MI6 + Israel’s Mossad + France’s DGSE) was very busy carrying out the false flag operation in Paris on 11/13, that same day the IMF ─International Monetary Fund and not “Impossible Missions Force,” since the gullible and ignorant masses in America are totally unaware about the existence of this institution─ announced that the fund’s executive board will decide on November 30th whether to add the Chinese currency (the Renminbi, commonly known as the Yuan) to the Special Drawing Rights basket.
IMF head Christine Lagarde said that she personally supported that move. Yuan joining basket of currencies comprising IMF’s lending instrument likely to boost demand for Chinese assets and the effects of this tectonic shift in the financial world will be felt in the pockets of ordinary Americans in the months to come (the loss of purchasing power using US Dollars).
The Federal govt. miracled up a lot of powers that weren’t delegated to it. Today there seems to be no limit to the powers it claims, nearly all in direct conflict with the Constitution and the 10th Amendment. America is waking up to it all and its good to see the states beginning to as well.
The ‘community disorganizer’ is busy perfecting his craft.
The last, best hope for a resurgence of American liberty lies in the states, the 10th amendment movement and the increasing willingness of governors to tell the feds to stick it where the sun don’t shine.
States have the requisite level of power plus the constitutional prerogative to fight the feds on a number of issues, and I hope fight they will.
Those who run the clown show known as the federal government are surely aware that each time there is defiance of federal mandates by the states, it becomes more and more plausible to the average state citizen to see defiance as not only possible but achievable.
I have emailed my governor–one of the states with common sense–and urged him to use every avenue available to make his stand one of substance and not just show. There is no doubt in my mind it would be overwhelmingly supported by citizens of this state.
As in so many other areas of corruption this festering pustule of criminality has tried to shove down our throats, the answer is simple: DEFY THEM.
The Federal govt. has no power that was not authorized in the Constitution, although it has used intimidation and the ignorance of the citizens to usurp many unauthorized powers. it has no power to act in a manner that is contrary to the wishes of the American people. I’m glad to see America waking up and standing up to the Federal monster, in any way possible! This unfolding story is encouraging!