"Anxiety Grows in Texas With Syrians Due to Arrive Soon" By Lisl Wangermann Period 1

Manny Fernandez and Julia Preston's article "Anxiety Grows in texts With Syrians Due to Arrive Soon" was published by the New York Times on December 8, 2015. Texan Senator and presidential hopeful Ted Cruz proposed a law on Tuesday that would allow governors to decide who enters their state as refugees. If the federal government could not provide sufficient proof that the refugees were not associated with ISIS or any other terrorist group, the state would have the right to reject them. This is an urgent problem for some Texans because twenty-one Syrians are set to arrive in Texas later this week. This plan is more lenient than Trump's "if you are Muslim, you are not allowed here" plan, but it still would have severe consequences for many refugees.

These views and opinions of those supporting Ted Cruz's legislation have been seen throughout history. When German and Irish immigrants came to the United States in the early nineteenth century,  many people called measures that would block them from coming. The Know-Nothing party, which was entirely based on the issue of immigration, led this movement. Additionally, the Chinese Exclusion of Act was the first major federal immigration law. This act started a trend of anti-immigration legislation that eventually led to Ted Cruz's plan. His plan also emphasizes the rights of states to determine who they let in, which connects to the state's rights vs the federal government conflict that has existed since the very beginning of the United States. If this bill passes through Congress, history will be repeating itself.