TN GOVERNOR HASLAM SAYS ‘NO’ TO SYRIAN REFUGEES
Gov. Bill Haslam has asked the federal government to suspend the placement of Syrian refugees in Tennessee.
Since Friday’s terror attacks in Paris, the State Department said it would not change its plan to accept 10,000 Syrian refugees in the next year.
Twelve governors, including Haslam, have refused or suspended the resettlement of refugees from Syria.
“As we mourn the loss of innocent life from Friday’s horrific and cowardly attacks in Paris, these terrible events have once again shown us that the threat of Islamic terrorism knows no boundaries and recognizes no borders,” Haslam said in a statement. “We as a state must do everything we can to provide Tennesseans the safe environment to live, work and raise a family that so many across the world seek.”
Congressman Marsha Blackburn, R-TN, applauded the decision and said the current vetting process is woefully inadequate.
“I don’t know anyone who has a foolproof way to vet people coming out of Syria,” Blackburn said. “Who are you going to call, the Syrian government? Are you going to call other entities? Are you going to call ISIS and say what’s the background or is there a connection?”
In a Monday morning speech, President Barack Obama reiterated the importance of sticking to the plan of relocating Syrian refugees to the U.S.
“We do not close our hearts to these victims of such violence,” Obama said. “And somehow we start equating the issue of refugees with the issue of terrorism.”
Monday afternoon, Holly Johnson with the Tennessee Office for Refugees spoke about the controversy surrounding the refugees.
“At first it was very sympathetic images. But now, in Paris, this connection is making everyone think Syrians are all terrorists and they’re coming to the U.S. to terrorize us all,” Johnson said. “That’s just not what I believe to be true at all.”
While Johnson said she did not expect to see any changes in Tennessee, that was before Haslam’s late afternoon announcement.
