It has been a long time coming, but regular readers know that the Tennessee legislature voted earlier this year to file a lawsuit against the federal government’s refugee resettlement program being operated in the state as a so-called Wilson-Fish program.
I’m not a lawyer and have no time to get into the weeds on the case, but just know that for these 12 states*** this case is the worst nightmare for the refugee industry in America. It seems the case prepared by the Thomas More Law Center will proceed as the last impediment to filing has been removed!
Here is a little bit of the Tennessean last night (LOL! trying to downplay the momentous decision):
The lawsuit will move forward because a resolution approved by the legislature earlier this year included a provision that allows the legislature to hire outside counsel to sue the government for noncompliance of the Refugee Act of 1980.
[….]
“This Office shares the General Assembly’s concern about unauthorized federal intrusion in matters that have historically legally resided within the exclusive purview of state and local officials,” Slatery (TN AG) wrote in a letter sent to the clerks of both legislative chambers. “The founders in adopting the United States Constitution created a series of checks and balances to ensure that no one branch of government would have unfettered power.”
The federal government working with Catholic Charities and NOT with the elected officials of the state of Tennessee is basically spending Tennessee taxpayers’ money with no authorization from the legislature!
Proponents of the measure have said the lawsuit is necessary because the federal government has failed to consult with Tennessee on the continued placement of refugees while suggesting that the feds have shifted the cost of administering the program to the state without lawmakers specifically authorizing the appropriation of funds.
This is not the same case that was filed in Texas and Alabama! This is a states’ rights lawsuit!
Texas and Alabama have sued the federal government over refugee resettlement, but Tennessee’s forthcoming lawsuit would be the first based on the 10th Amendment, which states that the federal government possesses only powers delegated to it by the U.S. Constitution and that all other powers are reserved for the states.
Continue reading here.
We will write more later as others weigh in on the exciting news.
For all of you working in ‘pockets of resistance’ this is huge news, but it is not by itself a silver bullet! There is no one silver bullet! Unfortunately we cannot count on Congress to abolish or even reform this program with the present leadership. So we must all continue working on all of the seemingly small things we do every day to bring attention to the refugee resettlement industry in America! I’m confident a tipping point is near!
The New York Daily News had its say about the Tennessee case with a story filed on Saturday. As someone said, it reads like a “novella!” Check it out here since it discusses yours truly being driven by Islamophobia. I guess what went down in Lake Calhoun, MN last week can all be chalked up to Islamophobia too!
***Two other states are effectively Wilson-Fish states now as Kansas and New Jersey withdrew from the program, but it appears governors there are too chicken to make the next move and file a lawsuit just as Tennessee will now do.