Brian Bilbro wants to stop all further resettlement activities.
AB Wire
Gov. Nikki Haley of South Carolina has been sued for allegedly resettling Muslim refugees in the state.
The lawsuit by Brian Bilbro, a husband and father of two young girls who lives near Columbia in Richland County, and works in medical sales, says he and other South Carolina families have not had their concerns addressed, or even taken seriously, by Haley’s administration or the state legislature on the issue of refugee resettlement.
The lawsuit has been filed against Haley, the State Department of Social Services, and two church-based organizations that help the government transplant refugees not only in South Carolina but dozens of cities and towns across America.
The suit seeks to halt all resettlement of refugees 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,” reported WND.
Haley has supported the president’s plan to bring in refugees from jihadist hotspots like Syria and Iraq, the activists say, while also quietly embracing Obama’s resettlement of illegal Central American children in their state, using the family courts to secretly place them in communities without their knowledge or approval.
South Carolina’s brouhaha over refugees erupted in March 2015 when a local newspaper ran an article “announcing” that World Relief Corp. planned to partner with churches and resettle about a dozen Syrians in the Spartanburg area. Secretary of State John Kerry dispatched his top refugee overseer, Assistant Secretary of State Anne Richard, to the Palmetto state to calm nerves, reported WND.
Thus far no Syrians have been sent to Spartanburg and only three have been placed in the state, near Columbia.
“I’m not a part of any rightwing groups, not involved with the NRA, just a normal taxpaying citizen who is concerned for the safety of his family,” Bilbro told WND.
“Over the past year I’ve really become aware and concerned about what’s going on in our world and our country and the fact that the Muslim states have really taken it up a notch toward Christians and people like myself,” Bilbro added. “I’m not an Islamophobe but I’m just observing and if anyone can’t look at Europe and see what’s happening there then they have their heads in the sand. These people are getting very aggressive and I look at my daughters not as people they can do what they want with. I want to protect them. I just said, somebody’s got to stand up and make a stand, so really I did it for our children and the children of our state.”
Bilbro attended a legislative committee hearing on refugees in Columbia last month but didn’t feel like his concerns were taken seriously by the lawmakers.
“One senator said it’s just the way the world is now, that we live in a more dangerous world, and tough luck. He didn’t care that 26 citizens had expressed their concerns,” Bilbro said.
Meanwhile, a day after Haley endorsed Florida Sen. Marco Rubio in the presidential race, GOP frontrunner Donald Trump trained his ire against her.
Trump, who had kind words for Haley early in the week, ripped into her as weak on immigration, reported The New Yok Times.
“She’s very, very weak on illegal immigration,’’ Trump said, echoing earlier charges that were a departure from his gentler remarks about South Carolina’s governor in speeches this week. “Very weak,’’ he continued. “She’s very, very weak on illegal immigration. You can’t have that.’’
Haley, whose endorsement is a major boost for Mr. Rubio as Republicans head to the polls on Saturday, has served as a foil in Trump speeches ever since she urged voters last month to avoid “the angriest voices.”
Trump joyfully embraces his anger in most speeches as reflecting the mood of the country. In a speech in Greenville on Monday, he called Haley, who is popular with South Carolina Republicans, “a very nice woman” and “a friend of mine.’’ He said she had modified her original accusation that he was too angry, which she made in the official Republican response to President Obama’s State of the Union address.
By Wednesday night, Trump’s blandishments had changed. So had his audience’s mood. “You know, Nikki Haley gave a speech a couple of weeks ago and she said that we——’’ Mr. Trump began, waving an arm to include the crowd.
There was a chorus of boos.
“It’s not good,’’ Mr. Trump said. Then he flung into his criticism of her reported the Times.