Tennessee shouldn't consent to refugee resettlements

Tennessee shouldn't consent to refugee resettlements

By BRENT SMITH

Read the text of Smith's resolution here.

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https://www.t-g.com/photos/34/34/39/3434392-M.jpgBrent Smith



On Tuesday, January 21, I will be introducing a resolution at 5 p.m. on the third floor of the Bedford County Courthouse. This resolution is a resolution of No Consent to Refugee Resettlement in Bedford County, Tennessee.

As many of you have read over the past few weeks, Governor Bill Lee has announced his consent to initial refugee resettlement in Tennessee in response to Executive Order 13888 issued by President Donald J. Trump on September 26, 2019. This gives states and counties the ability to choose whether or not they wanted to accept new refugees. Unfortunately, our Governor did not collaborate with the General Assembly on this; much less his more rural constituents like those of us in Bedford County.
I believe the Governor has a good heart and good intentions but his actions are very naive considering the federal government has proven time and time again that it cannot vet these persons. Even as I write this, Tennessee is currently in a refugee resettlement lawsuit against the federal government for this very program.

His actions are incongruent with that pending lawsuit and have possibly hurt its chances of success. I fear the Governor has overreached his constitutional authority. Also as the Chairman of the Republican Party in Bedford County, our executive committee has voted unanimously to send a letter that will be hand-delivered to the Governor expressing our disappointment and disapproval of his actions.
As citizens of Bedford County, I am sure many of you have seen our community change over the past several years. A large number of constituents have expressed to me how parts of our community resemble the Third World. They cannot believe what has happened here and it shows, whether we want to accept the truth or not. We have been in denial as a community and have lacked the leadership to at least discuss the problem, I suppose, in fear of being called racist. We have seen a huge influx of illegal immigrants that have affected our wages, jobs and schools.

However, there isn't much we can do about it considering the Federal Government's epic failure concerning our immigration policies. Simply put our Federal immigration system is broken and it's taking its toll on our community, especially fiscally. Just last year I tried to pass a Senior Citizen Tax Freeze that would have helped many of our vulnerable seniors on fixed incomes. After much deliberation it was deemed too expensive at a cost of around $85,000 per year. Additionally, the County Commission voted to increase taxes to help fund new schools and a justice center. The County Commission raised fees and taxes at every opportunity to help with "budget shortfalls" even in this booming Trump economy. For the record, as a Bedford County Commissioner, I personally voted against any and all tax increases.

In closing, I believe in helping and resettling refugees, especially those that have been negatively affected in the Middle East by wars we have participated in. I believe that if you come to this country legally you are an American with all the rights afforded to you under the Constitution. I also believe we need a conservative amount of immigrants skilled and unskilled to fill jobs in our economy. However, Tennessee and Bedford County has done its fair share helping those from around the world. We are swamped within our schools with illegal immigrants to the point that there is extreme difficulty finding and funding teachers to work in our county, plus we are in dire need of English to Spanish translators. Some of our schools are over 50% illegal immigrants. This situation has been deemed a crisis level event by educators that have reached out to me personally who I will not name.
My question to you, as the voter and citizen, is how do we take care of new additional refugees that need the help and financial assistance they deserve when our community can hardly take care of the citizens and non-citizens we currently serve? We can no longer turn a blind eye to this huge crisis and Governor Bill Lee has just made our job much harder!
I encourage you to attend the Bedford County Committee Meeting where you can express your thoughts around this issue. Meeting to be held on Tuesday, January 21, 2020, at the Courthouse, 3rd floor.

--Brent Smith is a Bedford County Commissioner, representing the 1st District, and chairman of Bedford County Republican Party.

https://www.t-g.com/story/2662469.html

Text of Brent Smith resolution on refugee resettlement


This is the text of a resolution county commissioner and Bedford County Republican Party chairman Brent Smith plans to introduce in the commission. Smith's opinion column about the resolution is here.

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A Resolution of No Consent to Refugee Resettlement in Bedford County TN.


WHEREAS, the President issued the Presidential Determination on the Admission of Refugees for FY2020, setting the admission cap at 18,000; and

WHEREAS, in 2007, Democrat Governor Phil Bredesen withdrew Tennessee from the federal refugee resettlement program; and

WHEREAS, in 2016, with overwhelming support in the State House and the Senate, the Tennessee General Assembly passed SJR467 and subsequently filed a lawsuit which is on-going challenging the federal refugee resettlement program for violating the Tenth Amendment; and

WHEREAS, generally, the lawsuit alleges the commandeering of state funds to pay costs associated with the refugee resettlement program which have been shifted to the state without its consent by the federal government; and

WHEREAS, the transferred federal costs are ultimately being paid by Tennessee state taxpayers; and
WHEREAS, President Trump issued Executive Order 13888, Enhancing State and Local Involvement in Refugee Resettlement which requires written consent from both the Governor and the chief executive officer of the local government (county or county equivalent) for the initial resettlement of refugees into specific communities; and

WHEREAS, the U.S. State Department Bureau of Population, Refugees, and Migration has operationalized the consent requirement through the FY2020 Notice of Funding Opportunity for Reception and Placement Program (Funding Notice) issued on November 6, 2019; and

WHEREAS, the Funding Notice permits federally contracted refugee resettlement agencies to resettle different groups of refugees anywhere from 50 to 100 miles away from the resettlement agency offices in consenting counties such that non-consenting counties cities and towns can be forced to participate in the initial resettlement of refugees; and


WHEREAS, refugee resettlement agencies maintain offices and operations in Davidson, Shelby, Hamilton and Knox counties; and


WHEREAS, John Cooper, Mayor of the Metropolitan Government of Nashville and Davidson County has issued a letter of consent to U.S. Secretary Mike Pompeo and it is anticipated that Shelby County Mayor Lee Harris, Knox County Glen Jacobs and Hamilton County Mayor Jim Coppinger will do the same; and


WHEREAS, U.S. State Department reports show that upon arrival refugees have previously been resettled in locations including Clarksville, LaVergne, Smyrna, Murfreesboro, Mt. Juliet, Franklin, Spring Hill, Shelbyville, Gallatin, Johnson City; and


WHEREAS, Governor Lee by letter dated December 18, 2019, to U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo “per the terms of Executive Order 13888” has consented to “initial refugee resettlement in Tennessee” with no exemption for non-consenting counties; and


WHEREAS, by letter dated December 18, 2019, to Lt. Governor Randy McNally and House Speaker Cameron Sexton Governor Lee defines his consent as “valid initially for one year” in conflict with the terms of Executive Order 13888 and the Funding Notice which only requires consent for the period of time June 1, 2020 through September 30, 2020; now, therefore,


BE IT RESOLVED that Bedford County does not want to be forced into participating in the federal refugee resettlement program due to either Governor Lee’s consent and/or being within the permissible placement radius of a resettlement agency office.


BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that Bedford County requests that Governor Lee retract his consent for initial resettlement in Tennessee for both the one year period of time as stated in his letter and/or the actual consent period required by the Funding Notice.


BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that Bedford County requests that in the event Governor Lee does not retract his consent for initial refugee resettlement, that he submit a revised letter of consent to U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and to Lt. Governor Randy McNally and House Speaker Cameron Sexton exempting non-consenting counties from forced participation in the initial resettlement of refugees in Tennessee.

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that Bedford County requests that Governor Lee by written notice inform the resettlement agencies which maintain offices and operations in Tennessee that they may not place arriving refugees in non-consenting counties.

Brent Smith Telephone: Call to talk or to leave a message

(615) 668-9894



https://m.facebook.com/brentsmithcountycommissioner/

Telephone number for Bedford County GOP. I called and left message for Mr. Smith and all.


931.488.5861