Bills like these are really innocuous. They don’t stop any refugee placement in the state, they simply tell state officials and the public who is in the state. The information would aide local officials in determining school capacity, housing availability and other welfare services that would need to be provided to these legal immigrants.
From CBS:
RICHMOND, Va. (NEWSPLEX) — A bill requiring an annual report on refugees resettled in Virginia has been vetoed.
Governor Terry McAuliffe vetoed House Bill 2002 on Friday, saying the report would “send a message of exclusion to people looking for the chance to rebuild their lives” and poses a danger to them.
The legislation would have required nonprofit resettlement agencies and local affiliates that provide refugee or other immigrant resettlement services, like the International Rescue Committee, to report information regarding those settled in the Commonwealth.
The state Department of Social Services would then collate and submit a report to the governor’s office and the General Assembly each year.
The report would include information such as the total number of individuals resettled in Virginia by the agency; the locality where the individual was resettled; the individual’s age, gender and nation of origin; and whether the individual was placed through the U.S. Refugee Resettlement Program.
More here.
It would be interesting to see if Maryland Republican Governor Larry Hogan would veto a similar bill! Hogan has spoken in favor of more refugees for Maryland.