A group of Tennessee lawmakers wants the state to sue the federal government over refugee resettlement, arguing that helping displaced families amounts to an “unfunded mandate.”
A Senate panel voted 9-1 Tuesday morning to ask the state’s attorney general to file a suit they say would — at the very least — force the U.S. State Department and their partners in Tennessee to release more information on refugees.
Tennessee takes in more than 1,000 refugees each year, many of whom have lost everything they own. No one knows how much it costs the state and federal government to set them up in Tennessee, says Senate Majority Leader Mark Norris.
“So, this is not intended to be mean-spirited,” says Norris, R-Collierville. “It’s not intended to engage in fear mongering.”
Senate Joint Resolution 467 is sponsored by Norris, Senate Speaker Ron Ramsey and 21 other Republicans in the state Senate. It directs the attorney general to sue on behalf of Tennessee and 11 other states that have turned their refugee resettlement programs over to outside nonprofits.
In Tennessee, Catholic Charities has coordinated refugee resettlement since 2008. The organization says its funding comes directly from the federal government.
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But Norris argues the state may still be spending on refugees through Medicaid, English language instruction and other programs that require state contributions. Tennessee cannot refuse to spend that money for refugees without jeopardizing federal funding for all state residents.
Norris argues that amounts to an unconstitutional mandate, similar to the requirement to expand Medicaid that the federal government struck down in its Obamacare ruling three years ago.
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Opponents say Norris’s resolution is fear mongering.
Stephanie Teatro with the Tennessee Immigration and Refugee Rights Coalition worries the goal of the suit is to shut down refugee resettlement in Tennessee — or to create such a poisonous climate that refugees won’t want to move to the state.
“Everyday, our office is getting calls from refugee families, who are afraid to send their kids to school, who are getting harassed by businesses. When our legislature suggests that refugees are unwelcome here, that has real, lived consequences for people.”
Teatro says the state legislature’s own research has shown that, in the long run, refugees actually add more to the economy than they take out.
The only vote against the resolution on Tuesday came from state Sen. Steve Dickerson, R-Nashville.
The full Senate could vote on it as soon as next week.
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