AUSTIN, Texas, Dec 9 (Reuters) - A U.S. federal court judge dismissed a request by Texas shortly after it was filed on Wednesday seeking a restraining order to block the imminent entry into the state of nine Syrian refugees, saying the evidence presented was "largely speculative hearsay."
This is the second attempt by Texas to seek immediate court help to halt the refugees, with Texas saying the U.S. government had not met its legal obligation to consult with local officials about the resettlement.
The Texas action came after U.S. Republican presidential front-runner Donald Trump touched off a global firestorm by saying that Muslims should be denied entry into the United States.
"The (Texas) Commission has failed to show by competent evidence that any terrorists actually have infiltrated the refugee program, much less that these particular refugees are terrorists intent on causing harm," U.S District Judge David Godbey said in his decision.
The results of this case could determine whether the governors of more than 30 states will be able to go through with plans to bar the local resettlement of Syrian refugees.
A previous attempt for a temporary restraining order was dropped last week by Texas. The move came hours after the U.S. Justice Department filed a brief at the U.S. District Court in Dallas saying the federal government and not the states sets U.S. policy on immigration.
Texas said in that case the government had provided the information it requested on the group, which was two families of six each who arrived in Dallas and Houston on Monday.
After the November 13 attacks in Paris for which the group Islamic State claimed responsibility, Texas Governor Greg Abbott, a Republican, was one of the first governors to seek to block on security grounds the resettlement of Syrians in their states.
"It is essential that a judge consider halting the Syrian refugee process, at least on a temporary basis, to ensure refugees coming to the United States will be vetted in a way that does not compromise the safety of Americans and Texans," Abbott said in a statement.
A family of eight Syrian refugees, including six children ages 6 to 15, is due to arrive in Houston on Thursday, along with a 26-year-old Syrian woman whose mother resides in the area, the Justice Department said last Friday in a court filing.
The Justice Department said in that filing the Refugee Act of 1980 requires the government to consult on a regular basis with states about the sponsorship process and distribution among states.
"It does not create any obligation to provide advance consultation regarding individual resettlement decisions," it said in the filing.
A federal judge is expected to hear a request from Texas in the next few weeks seeking an injunction to halt the resettlements.
A Texas House committee will hear testimony on Dec. 15 on Abbott's plans to halt Syrian refugee resettlement in the state.
Since fiscal 2011, 243 Syrian refugees have resettled in Texas, the U.S. filing said, making it one of the main U.S. relocation sites since the Syrian civil war erupted about four and a half years ago. (Reporting by Jon Herskovitz and Lisa Maria Garza; Editing by Sandra Maler, Toni Reinhold)
Ivor Prickett/UNHCR
Syrian refugee Nujeen, 16, waits to be carried from the shoreline to the road after landing on the Greek island of Lesbos with her older sister Nisreen. They fled Aleppo with their parents over two years ago and had been living in Turkey before deciding to seek better medical care for Nujeen in Europe. After a rough crossing that left most of the passengers cold and terrified, Nujeen seemed calm and happy. Speaking fluent English, she described the journey: "I enjoyed it. I have never been on a boat before. It was very beautiful. I didn't know if I was going to live or die, but thanks to God we are here."
Nujeen's resilience captured headlines around the world this year, and earned her a shoutout on HBO's "
Last Week Tonight with John Oliver." It was more than just a mention for Nujeen, however, as Oliver got actors from her favorite American soap opera, "Days of Our Lives," to pay tribute to the teen. Nujeen has since arrived in Germany.
Willa Frej/The Huffington Post
Hajar, Amira and Nabiha Darbi pose in their new living room in New Jersey. The Darbi family is one of many Syrian refugee families already living in the U.S.
Read more about their story here.
PHILIPPE HUGUEN/Getty Images
A refugee, using a plastic trash bag to protect himself from the rain, walks through the "New Jungle" migrant camp in Calais, France, where thousands of migrants live in the hope of crossing the Channel to Britain, on Oct. 21, 2015.
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Maaesa Alroustom, center, is kissed by her mother, Suha, as her father, Hussam, back, sits with her brother Wesam in their apartment in Jersey City, New Jersey, Sept. 16, 2015. The Alroustoms are refugees from war-stricken Syria.
DIMITAR DILKOFF/Getty Images
Mahmud, 28, and his bride, Firal, 25, both from the Syrian city of Kobane, show their rings as they arrive with other refugees and migrants on the Greek island of Lesbos, after crossing the Aegean Sea from Turkey on Oct. 8, 2015.
Matt Cardy/Getty Images
A elderly Syrian man holds his broken arm, an injury he received during his voyage from Syria, at a refugee reception center on Oct. 23, 2015, in Gevgelija, Macedonia.
BULENT KILIC/Getty Images
A Syrian child holds a watermelon, one of several distributed near the Akcakale crossing gate between Turkey and Syria at Akcakale in Sanliurfa Province on June 16, 2015.
Matej Divizna/Getty Images
A man from the Syrian town of Aleppo poses with his child in front of a mound of life jackets on the Greek island of Lesbos after crossing the Aegean Sea from Turkey on an inflatable boat, Oct. 2, 2015.
Matt Cardy/Getty Images
Refugees who have just arrived by bus queue in the rain at a refugee transit camp on the border between Greece and Macedonia on Oct. 22, 2015, in Idomeni, Greece.
ASSOCIATED PRESS
In this photo taken Oct. 2, 2015, Syrian refugee Ali Shaheen, 62, and his wife, Abeer, 52, who came from the countryside of Damascus, Syria, pose for a picture shortly after arriving on a dinghy from the Turkish coast to the northeastern Greek island of Lesbos.
Etienne De Malglaive/Getty Images
Refugees from Afghanistan and Syria take selfies after arriving in boats on the shores of Lesbos on Nov. 2, 2015, near Molyvos, Greece.
Anadolu Agency via Getty Images
Ibrahim Ahmad, wearing an inhaler mask, is seen in a Syrian family's room in the Reyhanli district of Hatay Province in southern Turkey, Oct. 28, 2015.
LOUISA GOULIAMAKI/Getty Images
A Syrian family with 2-month-old triplets, and their relatives with more babies, wait for transportation after disembarking with other migrants and asylum seekers from two government-chartered ferries at the Greek port of Piraeus, about 7 miles from central Athens, on Oct. 21, 2015.
Anadolu Agency via Getty Images
A Syrian family is seen inside their room in the Reyhanli district of Hatay Province in southern Turkey on Oct. 28, 2015.
PATRIK STOLLARZ/Getty Images
A refugee from Syria, left, and a Kurdish man from Iraq wait to be registered at the central registration office for refugees in Greven, western Germany, on Sept. 22, 2015.
Anadolu Agency via Getty Images
Halim Rasim, 6, a Syrian refugee boy who fled Idlib with his family, poses with his pet cat at a tent city in the Akcakale district of Sanliurfa, Turkey, on Sept. 24, 2015.
Jeff J Mitchell/Getty Images
Refugees sit inside buses as they are transported to the Brezice refugee camp on Oct. 26, 2015, in Rigonce, Slovenia.
KHALIL MAZRAAWI/Getty Images
Syrian refugees sit in the back of a Jordanian army truck as they leave the al-Roqban makeshift camp, on the border with Syria, for the eastern town of Ruwaished, where they will be welcomed and checked by the Jordanian authorities, on Sept. 10, 2015.
ASSOCIATED PRESS
In this photo taken Oct. 3, 2015, Syrian refugee Alaaldeen Mohammed, 25, who came from Aleppo, Syria, poses for a picture shortly after arriving on a dinghy from the Turkish coast to the northeastern Greek island of Lesbos. Mohammed was injured in 2013 in a government bombing that burned his upper body and face.
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