Looking Forward to 2020

HOUSTON (AP) — Texas Gov. Greg Abbott says the state will reject the re-settlement of new refugees, becoming the first state known to do so under a recent Trump administration order

— Josh Lederman (@JoshNBCNews) January 10, 2020

Earlier we learned:

Over the previous two days, as many as 10,000 “probes” of state agencies’ IT systems per minute came from Iran, according to Gov. Greg Abbott and state Department of Information Resources executive director Amanda Crawford.

“It’s very important that everybody be particularly vigilant right now about what may happen out of Iran,” Abbott said.

Well, except:

On Wednesday, however, the Department of Information Resources clarified that it would characterize the activity as probes for possible weaknesses in state agencies’ IT systems.

“Regarding the specific types of activity DIR is observing on the state networks it monitors, we would classify the blocked attempts referenced by Governor Abbott as reconnaissance scanning activity,” it said in a written statement. “For security reasons, we cannot provide more specific details.”“We have noticed that there has been some sort of increase in activity from that region, yes,” she said. Later, she amended that, saying she meant there has been an increase from Iran.

However, [Texas Department of Information Resources executive director Amanda] Crawford acknowledged that the department hasn’t been tracking numbers of attempts from Iran until recently.

“We have no way of knowing whether anything is government-based or not or government-sanctioned,” she said, referring to the Islamic Republic of Iran.

Attempts to sabotage IT networks come from domestic as well as international sources — and in high volumes, Crawford said.

“We see literally billions of probes on a given day,” she said. “We have been looking in light of events. We have been making sure we’re extra vigilant on certain areas of the globe.”

She and Abbott recommended that local governments, private businesses and individual Texans practice “good cyber hygiene,” which includes changing passwords, backing up files and limiting administrator access to networks.

And then there's his fear-mongering about the homeless population in Austin, which he would rather criminalize than aid.  Abbott is an ass, in other words, and he doesn't speak for the majority of Texans.  I haven't heard any grumbling in Houston (the most ethnically diverse city in the country, largely due to immigrants and refugees like the Vietnamese after the war) about refugees in Texas.   

The Texas Democratic Party quickly slammed Abbott's decision. "“Refugees are not political pawns and bargaining chips to advance anti-immigrant policies," the party said in a statement. We cannot let Republican racism overpower our love and compassion for our brothers and sisters fleeing violence across the world. Republican Governor Greg Abbott is in complete opposition to our Texas values by refusing to let refugees into our great state. Governor Abbott’s decision will lead to more innocent people dying."

Abbott wrote that Texas has already been forced to “deal with disproportionate migration issues” due to federal inaction to fix a broken immigration system.

“In May 2019, for example, around 100,000 migrants were apprehended crossing this state's southern border. In June 2019, individuals from 52 different countries were apprehended here,” he wrote.

The number of undocumented migrants apprehended in Texas has dipped considerably since that high mark in May, however. That's due, in part, to the Trump administration's policies of requiring asylum seekers to wait in Mexico for their immigration hearings, and a separate policy, known as "metering" that requires migrants to wait in Mexico before they are allowed to apply for protections here in the United States.

Abbott’s decision comes less than a day after several Texas House Democrats, led by state Rep. Vicki Goodwin, D-Austin, urged Abbott to opt in, calling the issue a “moral and economic” one.

“People who are forced to flee their home countries come here looking for a better life and work hard to achieve that goal,” she said in a letter to the governor. Goodwin also touted the economic boon of resettling, citing a 2015 study that found refugees in Texas spent $4.6 billion and paid $1.6 billion in taxes.

Abbott’s decision doesn’t mean refugees won’t be able to come to Texas at all. They could resettle here after first arriving in another state that’s opted in to the program, which the governor acknowledged in his letter.

This is really just Abbott being an asshole.  Given the trend towards Democrats in Texas, and how many refugees settle in urban, read:  "blue," areas of Texas, this is not the winner Abbott thinks it is.  Texas likes to think of its self as friendly and hospitable.  Abbott is playing to the people who drive to El Paso to shoot people in Wal-Mart, frankly.  Do Texans want him to be this big an ass?

Texas has been a leader in resettlement for several years after reaching a high of about 8,212 in 2009. The levels dropped off in 2011 and 2012, but hovered around 7,500 the next four years, according to State Department data. 

 Yeah, I'm really not that sure bigotry is a big political plus in Texas.