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Page 1 of 4 Governor Greg Abbott ID: LSG-2015-TX-0008 Office of the Governor P.O. Box 12428 Austin, Texas 78711 Sent via: Mail November 19 th , 2015 Re: Refusal to accept Syrian refugees into the State of Texas Governor Greg Abbott, My name is Isaiah X. Smith and I am sending you this letter for the purpose of discussing your refusal to allow the State of Texas to accept Syrian Refugees entering the United States. I urge you to read this letter to respond appropriately to this letter. I. General Information and facts The government of the Syrian Arabic Republic has turned barbaric against their own people under the authority of President Bashar al-Assad. His government has been accused of torture, shooting protestors, crimes against humanity, using chemicals weapons against civilians and for being involved in other serious violations without respect to the “domestic” constitutional and the “international” rights of individuals in Syria. A couple of years ago I sent a letter to the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court in which I have requested her to open an investigation “proprio motu” into the alleged crimes that President Bashar al-Assad has been accused of being involved in. My complaint was denied due to that country not being a party to the Rome Statute and due to the fact that the United Nations Security Council has not made a recommendation for an investigation to occur through the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court. Terrorist groups and extremist groups are on the rise in Syria. For instance, the “Daesh” terrorist group has been targeting innocent Syrian citizens and they have been committing extreme crimes against people in Syria and around the world. Due to the extreme conflict that is going on in that country, there are a lot of Syrians who are fleeing their country to try their best to get refugee status in other safe countries. A lot of Syrians have died with regards to trying to escape their country and a lot of them are being met with a lot of hostility from foreign countries. The “Daesh” terrorist group wants countries to deny citizenship to Syrian citizens because they want to use that as a recruitment tool for Syrian citizens. They want Syrian citizens to feel rejected in progressive countries and then to have them join their terrorist network due to deliberate indifference from countries that should have acted to save them.

Letter to Gov. Abbott on Syrian Refugees

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On November 19th, 2015 I have sent Governor Greg Abbott a letter in response to his letter to the Hon. President Barack H. Obama. Governor Greg Abbott has stated that Syrian refugees will not be accepted into the State of Texas. I do not believe that it is right for a state to do that, therefore I have sent Governor Greg Abbott in which I am opposing his decision for a various number of reasons. I am proud to see President Barack H. Obama trying his best to accept individuals who are being persecuted in Syria. He has the authority to do so. I strongly believe that the United States needs to have an image of love and acceptance. Not fear and discrimination.

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Page 1: Letter to Gov. Abbott on Syrian Refugees

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Governor Greg Abbott ID: LSG-2015-TX-0008

Office of the Governor

P.O. Box 12428

Austin, Texas 78711

Sent via: Mail

November 19th, 2015

Re: Refusal to accept Syrian refugees into the State of Texas

Governor Greg Abbott,

My name is Isaiah X. Smith and I am sending you this letter for the purpose of discussing your refusal to

allow the State of Texas to accept Syrian Refugees entering the United States. I urge you to read this

letter to respond appropriately to this letter.

I. General Information and facts

The government of the Syrian Arabic Republic has turned barbaric against their own people

under the authority of President Bashar al-Assad. His government has been accused of

torture, shooting protestors, crimes against humanity, using chemicals weapons against

civilians and for being involved in other serious violations without respect to the “domestic”

constitutional and the “international” rights of individuals in Syria.

A couple of years ago I sent a letter to the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court in

which I have requested her to open an investigation “proprio motu” into the alleged crimes

that President Bashar al-Assad has been accused of being involved in. My complaint was

denied due to that country not being a party to the Rome Statute and due to the fact that

the United Nations Security Council has not made a recommendation for an investigation to

occur through the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court.

Terrorist groups and extremist groups are on the rise in Syria. For instance, the “Daesh”

terrorist group has been targeting innocent Syrian citizens and they have been committing

extreme crimes against people in Syria and around the world. Due to the extreme conflict

that is going on in that country, there are a lot of Syrians who are fleeing their country to try

their best to get refugee status in other safe countries. A lot of Syrians have died with

regards to trying to escape their country and a lot of them are being met with a lot of

hostility from foreign countries. The “Daesh” terrorist group wants countries to deny

citizenship to Syrian citizens because they want to use that as a recruitment tool for Syrian

citizens. They want Syrian citizens to feel rejected in progressive countries and then to have

them join their terrorist network due to deliberate indifference from countries that should

have acted to save them.

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Recent terrorist attacks in France and hostility being shown towards Syrian citizens

Recently the “Daesh” terrorist group has claimed responsibility for attacking people in Paris,

France which has took the lives of over one-hundred people. The cowardly attacks have

killed innocent children, French citizens and visitors in France. The attacks have also created

hostility towards Syrian citizens who are trying to get access to others countries for the

purpose of escaping the violence that is currently occurring in their “home” country.

On November 16th, 2015 you have sent a letter in your official capacity to President Barack

H. Obama in which you have stated that the State of Texas does not welcome Syrian

refugees into the State of Texas and that you will block the president’s resettlement plan.

You claim in your letter that a Syrian refugee has been linked to the Paris, France attacks

and that American humanitarian compassion could be exploited to put Americans in danger.

I do not agree with you and I am going to explain to you why I disagree with your arguments

as shown below.

Statics on refugees being arrested on domestic terrorism charges since September 11,

2001

According to the Economist, out of 750,000 refugees that have already been taken in the

United States, none have been arrested on “domestic” terrorism charges. Also according to

the Migration Policy Institute, the only refugees that have been arrested under domestic

terrorism charges were three refugees (a pair of Iraqi refugees in Kentucky and one other

Uzbek refugee). Making the argument that denying access for Syrian refugees into the State

of Texas is the best option because of the threat of terrorism is an asinine argument. Given

the behavior of “already” accepted refugees in this country, it is very asinine to argue that

accepting refugees into the United States of America poses a great security concern.

Looking at shootings, domestic terrorism incidents and crimes that have occurred in the

United States, those crimes have been committed by a large amount of “domestic” citizens

of the United States. It is nonfactual to claim that Syrian refugees will be coming in the

United States to promote violence against American citizens, especially when looking as to

the current data on “domestic” terrorism incidents that have involved refugees in the

United States of America. Oh and let us remember that in the 1900s approximately 169,000

Bosnian Muslim refugees fleeing a similar warzone in Syria were accepted into the United

States back then. Not one of those accepted refugees were charged with terrorism to this

day.

Screening process for individuals that want to claim a refugee status in the United States

of America

Typically it the application process for refugees regardless of their nationality takes

anywhere from 10-24 months. The review of each applicant is carefully considered by the

Federal Bureau of Investigation, Department of Homeland Security, State Department, and a

various number of different intelligence agencies. “Domestic” intelligence agencies check

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the “biometric data” of the applicants as well as other information about the applicants. The

process if very complicated and a very thorough background check is conducted. So the

United States of America will not be allowing “anyone” to come into the country. They will

allow individuals who have passed “security” clearances and investigations to be permitted

to come into the United States. The government of the United States will not and is not

being negligent with respect to making sure that terrorists are prevented from entering the

country.

II. Some states refusal to accept the Syrian refugees currently looks just like the refusal to

accept European Jewish personages in the 1930s

During the 1930s there were many Jewish individuals who were being killed by Adolf Hitler

and the Nazis in Europe. In the lead up to the Holocaust and World War II it was proposed

by some political figures in the United States of America to accept over 10,000 Jews

escaping the Nazis in Europe to come into the United States as a refugee. Despite the

proposal a lot of polls have showed that Americans back then were mostly against the

refugee resettlement plans, as were a lot of American politicians.

The United States of America around 1944s decided to accept Jewish refugees into the

United States for the purpose of helping them escape Adolf Hitler and the Nazis. By then

millions of Jewish individuals have already died from the conflict. That could have been

prevented if American political figures worked together for the purpose of accepting

individuals into the United States that were trying to escape a massive genocide that was

taking place. Deliberate indifference was mostly occurring in the United States of America

due to our initial hostility to accept individuals who were trying to save themselves and their

families from the brutal crimes that were committed by the Nazis through Adolf Hitler back

in the day.

III. The President of the United States has authority to accept refugees into the United States

of America

It is perfectly legal for the President of the United States of America to accept refugees into

the country. Under the Refugee Act of 1980, the President of the United States has the

authority to allow refugees who face “persecution or a well-founded fear of persecution on

account of race, religion, nationality, membership in a particular social group, or political

opinion” into the United States. Specifically the President of the United States has the

authority to do so if his administration determines that an “unforeseen emergency refugee

situation” such as the Syrian refugee crisis exists.

The Supreme Court of the United States has ruled in Hines v. Davidowitz, 312 U.S. 52 (1941)

that the “the supremacy of the national power in the general field of foreign affairs,

including power over immigration, naturalization and deportation, is made clear by the

Constitution.” States do not get to overrule the federal government on matters such as

refugee resettlement plans. Even when look at Arizona v. United States, 567 U.S. ___

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(2012), the Supreme Court ruled that a state may not implement its own immigration rules

that are contrary to the federal government’s policy.

IV. Conclusion

The President of the United States of America has the authority to accept refugees into the

United States. It is extremely well know that the acceptance of refugees into the United

States of America is a federal issue and not a state by state issue. As shown in the

aforementioned court cases listed above and pursuant to the Refugee Act of 1980, the

authority to make “refugee settlement policies” is a federal issue and a state cannot create

its own refugee resettlement plan in contradictory with the federal government’s plan.

Please remember that we are the United States. Not the separate sovereign states of

America.

In conclusion I am going to specifically ask you Governor Greg Abbot to do not refuse to

accept the Syrian refugees into the State of Texas under President Barack Obama’s refugee

resettlement program. Refusing to accept individuals who are trying to escape serious

human rights violations that are occurring is absolutely disgusting, deliberate indifference

and unconstitutional. The United States of America is better than that and now is the time

for officials to be in compliance with the lawful actions of the President of the United States

and to stop trying to create fear in people based on nonfactual assertions by linking all of

the Syrian refugees to terrorism. Please be on the right side of history and do not repeat

history that we as a country were involved in regarding the 1930s acceptance of the Jews

fleeing from Europe to escape persecution from Adolf Hitler and the Nazis.

Please keep in mind that all information listed in this letter is true and correct to the best of

my knowledge. This letter is not legal advice and is not intended to be legal advice. However

this letter is intended to be viewed as research as to this particular very important affair.

V. Acknowledgement letter An acknowledgement letter would be greatly appreciated. You can reach me via electronic mail at: [email protected]. You can send me a letter by mail at the following mailing address: Isaiah Smith Campaign P.O Box 163411 Fort Worth, Texas, 76161

Respectfully,

Isaiah X. Smith Isaiah Smith Campaign P.O Box 163411 Fort Worth, Texas, 76161 www.isaiahxsmith.com

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TEXAS GOVERNOR’S OFFICE RESPONSE

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