On Friday, Republican Gov. Greg Abbott of Texas wrote a letter to U.S. Secretary of State Michael Pompeo saying he will be refusing any more refugees for resettlement in the state of Texas. The Texas Republican becomes just the first official to take advantage of white supremacist in chief Donald Trump’s requiring “consent, in writing, to the resettlement of refugees within the State and locality, before refugees are resettled within that State and locality under the Program.”

The Fort Worth Star-Telegram says that Texas has long been one of the biggest leaders in immigrant resettlement, in part because of the size of the state. This fact, instead of being a point of pride for Gov. Abbott, seems to be his whining excuse for refusing to continue allowing his state to be the site of humanitarian work. The Star-Telegram reports Abbott wrote that “Since FY2010, more refugees have been received in Texas than in any other state. In fact, over that decade, roughly 10% of all refugees resettled in the United States have been placed in Texas.” Abbott continues to say that the nonprofit organizations providing aid to those in need within of the state of Texas have enough on their plate. And lord knows Gov. Abbott isn’t helping anyone in need.

KHOU points out that 42 other governors have already said they will consent to allowing more refugees. The Dallas Morning News reports that while Abbott wants to pretend Texas was handling most of the country’s refugee resettlements, he was misinformed. Washington and California have outpaced Texas this year and have always been at the top of the list, along with Texas.

Published with permission from Daily Kos.