Legislature Gets National Attention for Resisting Federal Abuses

Legislature Gets National Attention for Resisting Federal Abuses

Several Tennessee state legislators appear ready to rebel against the implementation of the U.S. Refugee Resettlement Program after hearing testimony from Tennessee Department of Safety and Homeland Security Commissioner Bill Gibbons that the Obama administration has failed to comply with the Refugee Act of 1980’s statutory requirement to consult with the state prior to the placement of refugees there.

“My office is preparing a formal request in a letter to the Tennessee Attorney General that will go out later today asking him to pursue remedies for what is clearly a violation of the federal statutes by the federal government—in this case the Refugee Act of 1980,” State Senator Kerry Roberts (R-Springfield) tells Breitbart News.

Roberts was one of several members of the Tennessee General Assembly who participated in a a joint meeting of the Senate State and Local Government Committee and the House State Government Committee in Nashville who heard the startling testimony from Gibbons.

“Under federal law, the Director of the Office of Refugee Resettlement, which is part of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, and the Department of State’s Bureau of Population, Refugees, and Migration are required to consult on a regular basis not less than quarterly, with state and local governments, and private non-profit voluntary agencies, concerning the sponsorship process and, importantly, the intended distribution of refugees among the states and location before the placement in those states and localities,” Gibbons testified.

“So far, to this point, we feel there has not been adequate compliance with this mandate under federal law,” he added.

“To our knowledge, there has been no regular consultation with the executive branch in [Tennessee] state government regarding the resettlement and placement of refugees within our state,” Gibbons stated.

Senator Roberts asked Gibbons if the federal government had given the state of Tennessee a reason why they are not fulfilling their statutory obligation to consult with the state.

“No sir,” Gibbons responded.

“There is no excuse. It’s one of those statutory requirements that has been there that was not given a lot of attention until recent developments,” he continued.

“Now, hopefully, federal government officials are going to take that obligation seriously,” Gibbons added.

“Mr. Chairman, I would enjoy hearing from the [Tennessee] Attorney General’s office as to what their thoughts are on the federal government’s failure to follow this statute and what remedies they might think are available to the state of Tennessee,” Roberts then said to committee chairman, State Senator Ken Yager (R-Kingston).

Chairman Yager readily agreed to Roberts’s request.

The consultation clause of the Refugee Act of 1980 says: (continue reading)

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