Nashville Mayor More Trusting Of Federal Refugee Vetting Than Tennessee Governor

Nashville Mayor Megan Barry said today that Nashville is a welcoming city, but there is no widespread plan for accepting more Syrian refugees. 

She said she is confident the Department of Homeland Security and the State Department meticulously vet incoming refugees. 

“Early indicators are that most, if not all the refugees we have here, have been through that very stringent process.”

So far 22 Syrian refugees have moved to Metro Nashville. 

“
I think if you have been interviewed by the Department of Homeland Security and you’ve been interviewed by our State Department, I don’t know what other component needs to be addressed or introduced,” Barry said. ”But clearly I’ll leave that to the federal government to make a decision on [this].”

Although Mayor Barry supports accepting more refugees,
Tennessee Governor Bill Haslam is not as trusting. He is one of
30 governors opposed to the idea of accepting Syrian refugees at this time.