Some Syrian refugees find a home in Texas amid protests

[...] Texas has fought the hardest of any state, threatening one refugee aid group, the International Rescue Committee, with loss of funding and suing that organization as well as the U.S. government on Wednesday.

Syrians, like all refugees, undergo rigorous screening, the federal government has said, and states lack the legal authority to block funding for such aid groups.

Refugees in Texas have found a mixed reception — some residents have warmly welcomed them even as a series of incidents over the last year suggest growing anti-Muslim and anti-Syrian sentiment.

Two weeks ago, anti-Islam protesters carrying long guns marched outside a suburban Dallas mosque, and the protest organizer later posted the names and addresses of Muslims and “Muslim sympathizers” on Facebook.

The organizer, David Wright, said in a Facebook interview that people who are afraid to oppose Islam publicly are part of a “fantasy that will come crashing down around them,” and that “the Syrian refugees are part of that strategy.”