Tag: Bill Lee

Unfortunatley, Lee’s self-righteous arrogance is dominating. He was quoted this week saying that he’s sticking to his decision to bring refugees to Tennessee and have the state pay for them.

It’s the same self-righteous arrogance that had him proclaiming for all to hear that the counties have to defer to his decision in the matter. As much as he likes to claim that he’s supporting President Trump on the refugee program, Lee didn’t even bother to follow the President’s Executive Order about county governments having a say.

What the kool-aid drinking Governor Lee is following though, are the talking points from the federal resettlement profiteers who like to say that the federal government pays 100% of the cost for refugee resettlement.

How then does Biblical Bill explain the federal reports and US Senators admitting that the costs of the federal program have been involuntarily transferred to state and local governments?

Certain other issues aside, Lee has managed to flip off the conservative base so he can stand with the radical left groups like TIRRC and AMAC who always resort to name-calling and emotional arguments when, as is typically the case, the facts don’t support their position.

President Trump offered states a somewhat orderly decision-making process to decide about allocating costs and human capital related to the FEDERAL refugee resettlement program. Not only did Lee NOT FOLLOW the prescribed process, but he managed to create deep divisions within his own party.

Happy day for the ever so smug lefties.

But some Tennessee legislators who actually understand which branch of the state government has the Constitutional power and duty to appropriate public money, have offered Lee a way out of the mess he has created.

Rep. Ron Gant has a bill that basically tracks what the legislature did on the Medicaid expansion issue a few years ago.

Towards the beginning of his second term, Haslam, (at best, a left of center Republican), kept trying to figure out how to sign onto Obama’s Medicaid expansion plan. So he came up with his own Medicaid expansion plan and called it “Insure Tennessee.” But the General Assembly understood that Haslam’s plan was going to require boo-coos of state dollars which could only be approved by the legislature.

So the House and Senate passed a bill, opposed by all Democrats, requiring the governor to get the consent of the legislature before he obligated the state to a federal program requiring the expenditure of state dollars.

Predictably, the only Republican to vote against this was Sen. Steve Dickerson a self-described “different kind of Republican” – as in a Democrat who decided to run as a Republican. Dickerson was also the only Republican senator to vote against the state’s Tenth Amendment lawsuit challenging the refugee program’s cost shifting. That same year, Bill Lee donated $1,000 to Dickerson’s re-election campaign.

As an aside, Dickerson is named in a federal and state lawsuit “ being accused of submitting more than 750 false claims, nearly $6.5M in fraud” to Medicare and Medicaid.

If you compare Gant’s bill and the 2014 bill signed into law by Haslam, you’d see that Rep. Gant and the 51 co-sponsors (hopefully there will be more), are doing what is Constitutionally legitimate and appropriate with regard to yet another federal spending program.

If the Governor had any political and common sense, he’d put more ink in his bill signing pen and let the legislators know that he’d sign this bill if it makes it to his desk.

Contact Rep. Gant’s office and let him know how much you appreciate his leadership on this issue rep.ron.gant@capitol.tn.gov or call 615-741-6890

Call the Governor and tell him to start working with the legislators and not against them and the voters who gave him the privilege of serving them – 741-2001 or email him https://www.tn.gov/governor/contact-us.html

If your legislator is not signed onto Gant’s bill, ask them to sign on. If they have signed on, contact them, thank them and tell them to push forward.

A related item is Rep. Terri Lynn Weaver’s resolution HJR741 in support of Tennessee’s Tenth Amendment lawsuit. See if your legislator is listed and if not – get them to sign on. This is critically important since the slick-tongued Bill Lee has said he supports the lawsuit but then undermines it by consenting to bringing in more refugees.

How can it be that organizations which should be providing unbiased and straight-forward information to county governments are instead trying to carry water for the Governor?

Here’s what one of those organizations is circulating with regard to the issues around the Governor’s consent to continue refugee resettlement:

“Which counties are affected?

This has primarily been an issue affecting the four largest urban counties. According to a report from the Department of State, 5610 individuals were resettled in Tennessee during the five year period from October 1, 2014 to October 1, 2019. The vast majority of those individuals were resettled in Shelby, Davidson, Knox and Hamilton Counties. For example, during the quarterly period from July 1, 2019 to September 30, 2019, a total of 221 individuals were resettled in Tennessee. Of that number 210 were placed in one of those four counties.”

Anyone else wondering if the source of this info trying mighty hard to minimize the backlash from the Governor’s decision might just be coming from the Governor’s office? Hmmm.

Actual arrival numbers reported by the Catholic Charities’ Tennessee Office for Refugees (TOR) chosen by the U.S. Office of Refugee Resettlement to administer the program after Bredesen withdrew the state, for the five years starting in October 1, 2014, shows 7,688 arrivals.

FY2019 had a total of 692 arrivals in Tennessee and during the last quarter refugees were also placed in Rutherford, Bradley and Washington counties.

It’s important to remember that refugee arrivals are cumulative, building on prior year arrivals. Add to that secondary migration numbers and that’s how the little acorns grow into big oaks. How else did Nashville end up with the largest Sunni Muslim Kurdish community in the U.S. which by their own count put their numbers at approximately 15,000.

And suggesting that refugee resettlement “has primarily been an issue affecting the four largest urban counties” ignores all the facts laid out in Tennessee’s Tenth Amendment lawsuit. How about the fact that all Tennessee taxpayers pay for the public school services refugee students receive, and that all Tennessee taxpayers ultimately pay the costs for the refugee program which the federal government decided they weren’t going to pay anymore. As stated in Tennessee’s lawsuit: 

1. 1. 1. 27. Federal funds initially supported the federal government’s refugee resettlement program, but eventually federal reimbursements to the states were reduced and, by 1991, eliminated entirely. States thereby became responsible for costs of the program.
         28. Reports to Congress from the United States Government Accountability Office and ORR have acknowledged that costs of the federal refugee resettlement program have been transferred from the federal government to the states.

Actual arrival data reported by TOR shows that during the October 2014 – 2019 time period, federal contractors have placed refugees outside of the four urban areas including in the following counties:

Montgomery, Rutherford, Sevier, Williamson, Roane, Sumner, Wilson, Fayette, Bedford, Anderson, Bradley, Coffee and Washington.

Even though Rutherford County does not have a resettlement agency located in the county, the county has been used as an initial resettlement site at least since 2012.

Facts can be oh so very stubborn.

Biblical Bill is planning to put Tennessee actively into the federal program and have the U.S. Office of Refugee Resettlement approve his plan. That’s why this NON-transparent Governor made his consent for refugee resettlement “valid for one year” and that’s why his administration’s minions won’t give a straight answer when asked about it.

First there was the picture and information about Secretary of State Mike Pompeo spending the weekend with the Governor and his wife working on refugee issues. Not long after this, one of his advisers disclosed that “classified and confidential” information is involved.

What’s not clear in the timeline is whether Pompeo’s visit came before or after Lee’s pastor was in D.C. talking up Bill’s plan. (rumor has it that the pastor has been spending quite a bit of time in D.C.).

There is speculation that Lee’s plan lets him wear two hats – one as the state’s chief executive and the other as the state’s chief evangelist showing deplorables that he can live his faith using the state government and his Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives. Lee’s plan is likely to model itself after the system worked out in Texas between the federal refugee contractors and individual members of religious congregations. Remember, Lee has talked in terms of what he and his wife have done for refugees through their church.

But since there is nothing in federal law which mandates that states resettle refugees, it’s reasonable to ask the Governor why he is demanding that all Tennessee counties prepare to receive refugees.

Is the Governor even aware that Wyoming has no history of bending its knee and state budget to the federal refugee program? Has he wondered at all why the federal government hasn’t forced that state to take refugees?

Every time one of Lee’s folks – appointed, self-appointed, or his hired office staff – talk about how under the Governor’s plan the number of refugees would be about 350 – 400, what they are really saying is that they have no idea how this program actually works.

It’s true that Trump’s 18,000 refugees divided by 50 (as in states), is about 360 per state. Except that’s not how refugees get placed – just read the relevant government documents. Then there’s the matter of the 10,000 other category of refugee-like entrants called SIVs that Lee hasn’t bothered to mention. This is the kissing cousin category which Marsha is trying to add onto with Syrians and Kurds. (Note here that Marsha’s bill was amended to cap the number of Special Immigrant Visas at 400 for her pet group).

Until Lee was elected, Tennessee was a sovereign state with a representative form of government. Then Lee consented to paying both the state and federal costs to resettle refugees and decreed that counties must defer to the state which he defined as himself.

Lee’s die-hard courtiers and some tone-deaf legislators insist that the Governor’s consent for refugee resettlement is merely a “disagreement” between what voters heard him say during the campaign and his plan for refugee resettlement across the state.

Actually, it’s the same decision that Democrats Phil Bredesen and Karl (Marx) Dean would make – they just wouldn’t have waited as long. These guys may have lost the election, but their policies on refugee resettlement are being put firmly in place by Lee.

(Gov) Bill #1 would be so proud of him.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

And the left loves him for it! They love him because he is adamant about continuing to force refugees into Tennessee communities regardless of what those locals have to say about it.

The left and the federal contractors love what’s coming out of Lee’s mouth because they can read the tea leaves….

Bill Lee is going to have the U.S. Office of Refugee Resettlement approve his plan for refugee resettlement in Tennessee. They understand that in the aftermath of Lee’s giving consent under the President’s Executive Order, Lee all but admitted that he was going to put the state smack right back into the federal program and retract Bredesen’s withdrawal from the program.

And Lee has pretty much said and shown that he really doesn’t care what local governments or voters have to say about that. Wow, if that’s not a “red flag” for counties to stand up and be noticed….

Bill Lee doesn’t seem to understand that Tennessee’s Tenth Amendment lawsuit prompted by the Supreme Court’s decision in the Sebelius Medicaid expansion case is about state sovereignty. It just also happens to be about the Tennessee General Assembly being THE authority under the state Constitution to appropriate taxpayer money.

The issue in the Sebelius case was whether Congress could use their spending power to force states to expand their state Medicaid programs. If states didn’t comply, Congress was going to take away all of the state’s Medicaid funds. But the Supreme Court said nope, nothing doing Congress. The Court made it clear that even though Congress could legitimately use its spending power to put conditions on the use of federal funds, it could not use its spending power to the point where it went from encouragement to coercion.

The 2012 decision by the Supreme Court coined the phrase – “The States are separate and independent sovereigns. Sometimes they have to act like it.”

And Tennessee did just that in 2014, passing a bill to prohibit Governor Haslam who was itching to expand Medicaid with his “Insure Tennessee” plan. The legislature understood that the plan would put the state budget on the hook for an ever expanding bill that would overwhelm the state budget which is the sole responsibility of the Tennessee General Assembly and that the Governor did not have the power under the state Constitution to commit to that expenditure – that’s the job of the legislature.

So the Tennessee General Assembly acted to preserve their own power of the purse and tied the Governor’s hands.

Fast forward a few years and some really smart lawyers at the Thomas More Law Center (unlike Tennessee’s Attorney General), understood that the principle in the Sebelius case applied in the same way to the federal refugee resettlement program as it is implemented at the state level. They understood that it was even worse in a state like Tennessee which had withdrawn from the program but was still being forced to pony up state money to cover the transferred costs for the refugee program. 

So when Govenror Lee’s minions inside and outside of his office talk about all that federal money that would flow into the state with the arrival of new refugees? Maybe ask about all that other money that the state has and will continue to shell out just because Congress decided it wasn’t going to spend more of its/our money on the program they created.

Sort of sounds like a double whammy for Tennessee taxpayers.

But it’s actually worse than that.

While Bill Lee is forcing Tennessee taxpayers to live out his personal agenda and uses the state government for what the Bible says is an individual’s mandate, he will kill off the Tennessee lawsuit, the entire premise of which was based on the sovereign status of both the state and the legislature.

He may think the deal is worth it, but regular ole’ deplorables understand that governors come and go, but deplorables stay put and will defend their ground even if he won’t.

 

 

 

Don Barnett’s op-ed was first published in The Tennessean paper on January 9, 2020.

When you get to the part below which references the letter from the Evangelical Immigration Table delivered to Bill Lee with 659 signatures from Tennessee Evangelicals urging the Governor to consent to refugee resettlement, be aware that no one from his home church, Grace Chapel appears to have signed the letter, at least by individuals who signed the letter with a church affiliation noted.

Don’s op-ed starts here:

The well-meaning but dysfunctional U.S. refugee system costs taxpayers a lot while rewarding a few for keeping the cycle going.

Don Barnett resides in Brentwood, Tennessee. He has been a contributor for the Center for Immigration Studies.

In recent years about one out of five legal immigrants have arrived as a client of the federal Office of Refugee Resettlement, or ORR.

In 2016 these clients numbered 212,410. All were eligible for all forms of welfare on the same basis as U.S. citizens because of their immigration status: Refugees, Trafficking Victims, Cuban/Haitian Entrants, Special Immigrant Visa holders or Asylees with status granted by an immigration judge. In addition, 59,170 unaccompanied alien children went into special ORR programs. By 2019 the number of these children entering the country exceeded 69,000 with annual cost for care over $1.25 billion.

Our well-intentioned humanitarian immigration policies exert an even greater influence on the flow of illegal immigrants into the country.

A refugee pipeline

A network of international non-government organizations, brokers, lawyers and other middlemen exists to keep the engine going in a machine that delivers people into the pipeline of U.S. humanitarian immigration programs such as the resettlement of refugees from United Nations camps and other places to the U.S.

Tennessee is doing its part to keep the machine going.

The Trump administration’s latest attempt to reform refugee and asylum policy is a Sept. 26 executive order allowing states and localities to opt out of refugee resettlement in their environs.

In implementing a procedure to identify those jurisdictions that want refugees, the State Department allowed the federally funded resettlement contractors to drum up business for themselves. They promptly launched a nationwide mass marketing campaign aimed at getting citizens to encourage their governors and local officials to write a ‘yes to refugees’ letter to the State Department.

The left-leaning Evangelical Immigration Table, which has been linked National Immigration Forum, coordinated a petition drive in 15 states, including Tennessee. The letter to Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee had 659 evangelicals sign it urging the governor to consent to refugee resettlement.

No one from his home church in Franklin, Grace Chapel, has been identified as having signed the plea. So far, the response has been good for the refugee industry. If the pro-refugee media campaign is successful, the executive order may end up with effects diametrically the opposite of those intended. Imagine the faux social media opprobrium that will pour down on the first governor who publicly rejects refugees.

Of course, the publicity campaign makes no mention of costs to federal, state and local taxpayers for such services as Medicaid, English language learning and welfare. Instead it spins these costs as “federal money” that follows the refugees and stimulates the economy.

Lee may damage legal case

Lee has consented to continued resettlement for one year even though Tennessee has an active lawsuit to stop refugee resettlement in the state, alleging that current practice runs roughshod over state sovereignty and forces states to pay for costs that were originally to be covered by the federal government.

Though Lee says he wants the lawsuit to go forward, his actions may well invalidate it.

We can hope the unexpectedly strong negative response from the public and the legislature will lead to a change of course as soon as possible. The U.S. needs to maintain its leadership role in humanitarian initiatives overseas, but our humanitarian immigration policies are not working as advertised.

Humanitarian admission to the U.S. must mostly be the work of true, self-regulating, U.S.-based, sacrificial charity, not the work of international contractors funded with government dollars. Were that the case from the beginning, we wouldn’t need this latest executive order or the lawsuit.

Funny how candidate Lee said a statewide policy on transgender bathrooms would be divisive and should be left to local decision-making, but permitting federal resettlement contractors to operate in any county they choose, was his decision alone to make.

Even though Governor Lee said he consented for the whole state for continued initial resettlement of refugees in Tennessee, President Trump and the Department of Justice have clearly said otherwise.

The DOJ has written explicitly in their legal brief objecting to the federal contractors’ lawsuit to enjoin the President’s Executive Order:

“Section 2(b) of the Executive Order further requires the Secretary of State to develop and implement a process by which the State’s and locality’s consent to resettlement is ‘taken into account to the maximum extent consistent with law.’” Specifically, if either a State or locality has not provided consent to receive refugees, then refugees should not be resettled within that State or locality unless the Secretary of State concludes, following consultation with the Secretary of Health and Human Services and the Secretary of Homeland Security, that failing to resettle refugees within that State or locality would be inconsistent with the policies and strategies established under the Refugee Act… or other applicable law.”

But the DOJ and President Trump didn’t expect that Bill Lee would act like king for a day and claim that his consent to continue importing refugees, would take away any decision-making authority given to a local government by the President’s EO.

So why should local governments in Tennessee take the time to formally register either their CONSENT or NON-CONSENT for refugee resettlement?

1. Unlike Bill Lee, the President respects the opinions and positions of everyday working American citizens.
2. Ensuring that local governments have a say in what goes on in their community is the foundation of Trump’s America-first agenda and all of his efforts on the issues involved with both legal immigration like refugee resettlement, and illegal immigration.
3. The President’s Executive Order, the Funding Notice which operationalizes the EO, and the DOJ’s legal brief explicitly and repeatedly emphasize the role of local governments to voice their preferences about receiving and supporting refugees.
4. The President’s Executive Order says that “with limited exceptions, the Federal Government,”…”should resettle refugees only in those jurisdictions in which both the State and local governments have consented to receive refugees under the Department of State’s Reception and Placement Program.”
5. The practical effect of Bill Lee’s statewide consent, is that counties are now in the position that if they don’t formally OPT-OUT, they will remain subject to Lee’s statewide consent.
6. The State Department has not decided yet whether no action/silence on the part of a local government will be considered a consent or a non-consent to receive newly arrived refugees. So non-consenting counties would be wise to get a letter or resolution of non-consent to the State Department as they start to decide where resettlement activity will be allowed.

BTW, it’s being reported that the Governor is claiming “executive privilege” in order to hide information and other documentation related to his all-encompassing mandate for his fiefdom to receive arriving refugees.

 Now it’s really getting interesting.

Even if Governor Lee doesn’t agree or even care what counties think. Remember he basically said the counties “are at the mercy of the state.”

After the federal refugee contractors had their temper tantrum, whining, moaning and groaning about having to actually get written consent from governors AND from county executives, the federal profiteers went ahead and sued the Trump administration.

Aside from their overt hatred of the President and perhaps their worry that the pubic dollar gravy train the resettlement industry relies upon could actually force them to fundraise (they are “charities” after all), three of the federal resettlement contractors sued to enjoin the President’s Executive Order.

They want this consent stuff stopped NOW and PERMANENTLY. In fact, they want to have it declared invalid.

But Trump’s Department of Justice is having none of it – or at least that’s what they are arguing. And what they have told the federal court in Maryland is directly the opposite of what Bill Lee says with regard to counties. For some reason, the DOJ keeps repeating in their legal memo to the court that local governments are supposed to be consulted about whether they want refugees resettled to their communities.

First the DOJ lawyers have the audacity to cite to federal law:

The Refugee Act sets out a number of factors for federal agencies charged with making placement decisions to consider when making initial placement decisions. In carrying out this initial program of resettlement under Section 1522(a)(2)(A), the Government shall consult regularly (not less often than quarterly) with State and local governments…

And they just keep repeating that local governments are part of the refugee resettlement equation:

“Although there is an existing process by which the Federal Government consults with State and local governments to identify the best environments for refugees, ‘[s]ome States and localities [ ] have viewed existing consultation requirements as insufficient, and there is a need for closer coordination and a more clearly defined role for State and local governments in the refugee resettlement process.’”

“[c]lose cooperation with State and local governments ensures that refugees are resettled in communities that are eager and equipped to support their successful integration into American society and the labor force.” As the Executive Order explains, ‘State and local governments are best positioned to know the resources and capacities they may or may not have available to devote to sustainable resettlement, which maximizes the likelihood refugees placed in the area will become self-sufficient* and free from long-term dependence on public assistance.’”

“To those ends, Section 2(a) of the Executive Order directs the Secretary of State to develop and implement a process within 90 days of the date of the Executive Order to determine whether the State and locality both consent in writing to the resettlement of refugees within the relevant State and locality, before any refugees are resettled within that State and locality under the U.S. Refugee Resettlement Program. § 2(a). Section 2(a) also requires the Secretary of State to publicly release the written consents provided by States and localities to resettlement of refugees.” (emphasis added)

“As explained in the Executive Order, it is the policy of the United States to cooperate and consult with State and local governments and to take into account their preferences when determining whether and where to resettle refugees. Executive Order § 1” (emphasis added)

How in the world could Bill Lee get this all so very wrong?

And what’s his justification for deciding that counties are second class citizens and their position on the issue just doesn’t matter? Does he think that just because the law says the federal government is supposed to consult with local governments, he doesn’t have to?

*for whatever it’s worth, this “self-sufficiency” language is deceiving – here’s what it really means – a refugee be in most public assistance programs such as public housing, Medicaid, Food Stamps, WIC, etc.” and still be considered “self-sufficient.”

Yeah right.

 

 

 

 

 

It’s pretty interesting that Governor Lee keeps telling us how much “control” he can have over which refugees come to Tennessee now that he’s consented to putting the state back into the program.

Except Lee hasn’t actually defined what control means in any definitive way.

During yesterday’s second radio interview Lee mentioned the “control” factor no less than four times while defending his decision to put Tennessee back into the refugee resettlement program. 

He [Trump] improved the vetting process. And we have been speaking to them and talking to them about this process because I want to make sure it’s a process we want to live with and he improved the vetting process. If we engage in this then we have some control over it. And we have control over who comes in.

 This process that President Trump has outlined and that all these Republican governors are engaging? You know why they’re engaging? Because if we don’t, the Democrats decide what this process looks like. If we engage in this then we get to have some control over who comes. Where they come from. How they’re assimilated.

“…we get to have some control over who comes. Where they come from. How they’re assimilated.”

Remember the President’s Executive Order on the travel ban – the one titled Protecting the Nation from Foreign Terrorist Entry into the United States?

Guess what Governor – the travel ban EO doesn’t apply to refugee arrivals.

In fact, in 2019, just under 1,400 refugees were “imported” from travel ban countries. Since the final version of the travel ban went into effect, ninety-eight (98) refugees from Iran, Somalia and Syria, have been resettled in Tennessee. This number does not include secondary migrants from the travel ban countries who may have re-migrated to Tennessee during the same timeframe.

Lee is also relying on the “enhanced vetting” put in place after the courts shredded the first version of the travel ban EO. Enhanced vetting includes gathering more biographical data, checking social media accounts, training interviewers to detect fraud, and data sharing among agencies.

But even this has limits.

During the time of the first vetting discussion after the jihad in Paris, MULTIPLE U.S. agency officials involved in vetting refugees testified that vetting refugees from failed states or where no databases exist or where refugees lack vital documents, demonstrate the real limits of the vetting exercise.

The Governor also continues to try and hide behind Trump – he says he trusts the President, he appreciates that the President gave him a choice, he thinks the President has everyone vetted to the teeth, Trump, Trump, Trump.

We know that Tennessee is Trump country but that doesn’t shield Lee from his own actions – especially since Trump has been trying to dismantle the dysfunctional refugee resettlement program since he took office!!!!!!

During the campaign Lee told audiences that he supported the state’s Tenth Amendment lawsuit challenging the refugee program. The problem of course it that voters thought it meant he agreed with them that the state shouldn’t get back into resettling refugees and that the federal government shouldn’t get away with forcing the state to pay for a program from which it had withdrawn.

But the Governor has said he feels all better about it now because the President gave him a choice and didn’t force the state to be in the program.

So Governor, please, please, please explain to us, the great unwashed, how what you’ve said about the state now not being forced by the federal government to pay the fed’s cost share for the program, doesn’t undermine the state’s lawsuit?

And what is to be understood when the Governor says nonsensical things like we can’t stop refugees coming to Tennessee from other states so we should go ahead and have the federal contractors bring new refugees in from overseas. Huh?

And the thing he and his wife have with Kurdish refugees and the Governor’s adamant declaration that he won’t turn his back on them! Talk about a direct backhand to Trump against whom Nashville’s Little Kurdistan protested after the President’s decision to withdraw U.S. troops from Northern Syria.

The immigration issues plaguing the country was a centerpiece of Trump’s campaign. Trump has been trying to reduce the entry of low and unskilled immigrants and those who like refugees, are legally able to use all public assistance welfare programs. The Trump-effect has been that “workers at the bottom of the pay scale have been feeling positive effects on their wages at the end of 2019 — especially when compared to those at the top.”

Unlike Lee’s first “incoherent defense of his refugee decision” Monday’s radio host went overboard trying to minimize the overwhelming public criticism of the Governor’s decision by calling it a mere “disagreement.”

Hardly.