A lawsuit has been filed against South Carolina Governor, Nikki Haley, The State Department of Social Services, and two other private organizations responsible for resettling refugees in South Carolina. The lawsuit asks for a halt in the refugee resettlement program in South Carolina “until a full accounting of any and all federal money used in this program and specifically where it was allocated and how allocated (and) in which counties.”
The lawsuit has been filed by Attorney Lauren Martel on behalf of Walter “Brian” Bilbro, a South Carolina taxpayer. Mr. Bilbro has said he did not file the lawsuit as part of any group but as a concerned taxpayer who is worried about the security threat the refugee and asylum programs pose to his family and that the community as no way to object to these threats or the the cost imposed on the community to support the people brought into the state.
The lawsuit would prevent the state from settling any more refugees or asylees until a full accounting of Federal, State, and County funds being appropriated for this program are fully investigated. The lawsuit also seeks to halt courts from “rubber stamping” green cards for minors claiming asylum without vetting their stories. Currently the only information used to determine if a child is fleeing violence and abuse from their home country is their own testimony.
The lawsuit comes as a response to Pres. Obama’s plan to increase the total number of refugees admitted in the U.S. from 70,000-85,000 this year, including at least 10,000 refugees from Syria.
FBI Director, James Comey, said last year that the U.S. does not have the ability to thoroughly screen refugees for terrorist ties from countries like Syria due to a lack of available data. The Paris and San Bernardino terrorist attacks heightened these security concerns.
Jessica Vaughan, director of research for the Center for Immigration Studies, filed an affidavit with the lawsuit after being contacted by Martel.
“There are many problems, and to me the two most concerning problems are the refugees being brought in even though the federal government doesn’t have the ability to screen them, and second, these juveniles who are brought in from Central America and then the government not screening them, losing track of them, and in many areas of the country causing problems,” Vaughan said. “So my affidavit was filed to say there are going to be some costs and risks associated with this program in South Carolina. It focuses on costs and risks of those two key programs run by the Office of Refugee Resettlement and how the communities ought to have more of a role and the state ought to be held accountable for its role in facilitating these resettlements. These are genuinely areas of concern that cannot be brushed aside.”
Just this week Gov. Haley endorsed Gang of Eight co-author, Sen. Marco Rubio, for president just days before the primary vote takes place in her state. Last night Sen. Rubio said that he was against letting in any refugees that cannot be properly vetted. “So, my point is we'll always be a country that's open to refugees, but in the 21st century, if we don't know who you are, and we don't know why you're coming 100% for sure, we're not going to be able to allow you to come in because the threat we face is so significant now, and so real,” Rubio commented in last night’s CNN townhall.
Read more on this story at WND.
