Tennessee Governor Declares that More Refugees will be Resettled in His State
Jose Nino
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News 3 Channel reported that on Wednesday, December 18, 2019, Tennessee Governor Bill Lee announced that his state will continue accepting refugees.
Lee says that his government will provide “safe harbor” to refugees allegedly escaping persecution.
World Relief Memphis was one of the organizations that has advised Lee on accepting more refugees.
The organization is dedicated to resettling refugees and immigrants from across the globe.
“Last week, we got to go downtown to a naturalization ceremony and celebrate best friends we welcomed five years ago,” commented P.J. Moore, the Director of World Relief Memphis.
Moore’s organization has taken a lead role in advising Gov. Lee about the decision.
“President Trump signed an executive order that required the state department to create a process where states and counties need to give written consent to the state department that’s its OK for refugees to be resettled in their jurisdictions,” Moore stated.
Although some Tennessee lawmakers would like to exercise prudence, he’s deciding to continue accepting refugees.
“The United States and Tennessee have always been, since the very founding of our nation, a shining beacon of freedom and opportunity,” Lee declared in his letter to Lt. Governor Randy McNally and House Speaker Cameron Sexton.
He continued by stating that “my commitment to these ideals is based on my faith, personally visiting refugee camps on multiple continents, and my years of experience ministering to refugees here in Tennessee.”
However, the house speaker and lieutenant governor countered, stating their “personal preference would have been to exercise the option to hit the pause button on accepting additional refugees in our state.”
“It’s such a complicated issue,” Shelby County GOP Chairman Chris Tutor expressed. “It’s a prudential judgment how to balance that passion for people with concerns about safety, about assimilation. Your heart goes out to people, but you want to make sure we’re taking care of citizens first.”
Moore claims that the government already has seven layers of agencies vetting refugees.
One would expect a conservative state like Tennessee to exercise some restraint when dealing with refugee resettlement.
However, the immigration has shown that both parties are unreliable in trying to create an immigration policy that actually benefits American interests.
Ultimately, it will be up to grassroots activists at the county and municipal level to turn up the heat on their elected officials to make sure that their state will not be flooded by endless waves of migrants.
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