Tennessee governor asks feds to stop sending Syrian refugees

In the wake of the terrorist attacks in Paris, Gov. Bill Haslam asked federal officials Monday to stop sending Syrian refugees to Tennessee.

The statement from the Republican governor comes amid similar calls from other GOP lawmakers representing Tennessee at the state and federal level.

"While screening, acceptance and placement is legally under the authority of the federal government, they have said in the past they would be open to cooperating with receiving states," Haslam said in the statement issued Monday afternoon.

"Today I'm asking the federal government to suspend placements in Tennessee until states can become more of a partner in the vetting process."

Haslam joins more than 13 other Republican governors in calling for a temporary ban on sending Syrian refugees to their states. Most of those are asking for the federal government to stop sending refugees to their states, as opposed to declaring they won't accept additional Syrian refugees.

A state has "absolutely no constitutional power" to unilaterally stop accepting people into its state, Stephen Legomsky, a Washington University in St. Louis law professor and former chief counsel of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services in the Obama administration, told USA TODAY.

Poll:Should the U.S. government stop sending Syrian refugees to Tennessee?

Holly Johnson, state refugee coordinator at the Tennessee Office for Refugees, said Monday refugees can't enter the U.S. without passing a detailed federal security screening process. It involves checks from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, the FBI, health officials and other agencies, and can take two years to complete.

"Everyone's taking it very seriously, despite what some might say. It's not a willy-nilly, let's invite everyone into the country," Johnson said. "These are refugees who are fleeing terrorists as well. We're on the same side."

That didn't stop Tennessee legislative leaders from speaking out in favor of broader federal action. Lt. Gov. Ron Ramsey, R-Blountville, and House Speaker Beth Harwell, R-Nashville, called for a federal moratorium on the U.S. accepting refugees.

"The mass movement of legitimate refugees seeking asylum is heartbreaking, and our heart goes out to each and every man, woman and child who is fleeing legitimate political persecution. But the opportunity that radical Islamists could embed themselves in the movement of refugees is large and growing. These refugees are impossible to thoroughly investigate and properly vet," the lawmakers said in a joint statement Monday.

"Out of an abundance of caution, we must use any and all legal means at our disposal to stop the flow of refugees to Tennessee. We are calling for our federal representatives to place an immediate moratorium on refugees entering the United States, specifically Tennessee.”

Democrats and immigrant advocates disavowed calls from Haslam and others to stop accepting refugees in Tennessee; Senate Democratic Caucus Leader Jeff Yarbro, D-Nashville called the responses a "knee-jerk" reaction made out of fear. Senate Minority Leader Lee Harris, D-Memphis, said in a series of Tweets it's the right humanitarian and strategic move for the U.S. and Tennessee to continue to accept refugees.

Stephanie Teatro, co-executive director of the Tennessee Immigrant and Refugee Rights Coalition, said the calls to stop accepting refugees fall in line with the history of "Islamaphobic" attacks from Tennessee lawmakers.

"Governor Haslam and other elected officials are playing on the fears of Tennesseans, and the claim that refugee resettlement makes our state less safe is an unfounded distortion of the truth. Refugees in the United States are the most scrutinized and vetted of all foreign-born individuals to come to our country and must undergo screenings, interviews, and background checks that can take years to complete," Teatro said in a statement.

GOP lawmakers are circulating a letter they plan to send to the Tennessee congressional delegation calling for federal legislative action. U.S. Rep. Diane Black, R-Tenn., is co-sponsoring legislation that would put a moratorium on all refugee resettlement programs until the Governmental Accountability Office conducts a review.

"As unanswered questions remain about the screening process used for refugees admitted into the U.S., I believe it is time to press pause and ensure that all appropriate safeguards are in place to prevent Friday’s devastating tragedy from being repeated on American soil," Black said Monday in a Facebook post.

U.S. Rep. John Duncan, R-Tenn., went a step further. In a statement, he called for a temporary ban on "all immigration from countries with ties to ISIS or Al-Qaeda." Citizens from western countries — including Belgium, France and the U.K. — have been tied to both organizations.

Rep. Sheila Butt, R-Columbia, is asking lawmakers to sign on to a letter she plans to send to the governor asking him to stop the re-settlement of any Syrian refugees who haven’t gone through an extensive federal security clearance process.

“Tennessee has historically welcomed immigrants, but we understand that our first priority at this time must be to protect the safety of the people of Tennessee,” Butt writes in the letter, obtained by The Tennessean.

“We respectfully and urgently request that you suspend all efforts to settle any Syrian refugees in Tennessee, through any agency, until the U.S. Department of Homeland Security completes a full review of security clearances and procedures.”

Although hundreds of thousands of people have been displaced by the years-long conflict in Syria, the country is also home to the de facto capital of the Islamic State. The Islamic State, or ISIS, has already claimed responsibility for the attacks in Paris on Friday that left at least 129 people dead and hundreds more injured.

Only 30 of the 1,601 refugees who settled in Tennessee between July 2014 and June of this year came from Syria, according to data from the office for refugees.

"Some people have that many people over to their house for Thanksgiving," Johnson said.

Between 1996 and July 2014, only 16 Syrian refugees settled in Tennessee. Nearly 22,000 refugees were resettled in the state during that same time frame, according to data from the state and the office for refugees.

From July through the end of September, a fewer than 600 refugees arrived in Tennessee, according to a quarterly report from the office for refugees. That includes 378 refugees in Davidson County, 84 refugees in Knox County and 60 refugees in Shelby County.

Over the course of the next federal fiscal year, which began Oct. 1, the office anticipates another 1,800 refugees will re-settle in Tennessee. Roughly 1,300 are expected to settle in Davidson, Rutherford and Williamson counties, according to the report.

The office is run by Catholic Charities of Tennessee. Sen. Janice Bowling, R-Tullahoma, wants the state to play a more active role in regulating what refugees are allowed in Tennessee. In an email obtained by The Tennessean, Bowling argues the state is “totally unaware of who these ‘refugees’ are” with Catholic Charities running refugee resettlement in Tennessee.

House Majority Whip Jeremy Durham, R-Franklin, went further than Butt, calling Monday for the indefinite refusal of any Syrian refugees. If the governor doesn't act, he believes Tennessee lawmakers should call a special session to do so.

"Even though a screening process exists, we still cannot be sure that these individuals have the best intentions," Durham said. "These are people who don't mind waiting before they strike, so the fact that many of the refugees would not arrive in our state for two years does not alleviate my concerns over the safety of Tennesseans."

Harris, the Senate Minority Leader, and other Democrats argued it's a distortion of the facts to argue all refugees pose a safety risk to Tennessee.

"We should offer safe sanctuary because we can and taking several dozen displaced families is the least we can do. We should step up when called because that's what the good guys do during these days of crises," Harris said in a statement.

"And we should not turn a cold-shoulder because we understand that the refugees will head into the arms of whoever offers help first, including the bad guys and those who might seek to exploit these families."

As of 5:30 p.m. CST, governors from 23 others states joined Haslam is saying they oppose accepting any Syrian refugees, according to USA TODAY.

Reach Dave Boucher at 615-259-8892 and on Twitter @Dave_Boucher1.

Country of origin for refugees in Tennessee

In 2015, more than 1,600 refugees settled in Tennessee. Here's a breakdown of their country of origin:

Burma (Myanmar): 393 Iraq: 332 Congo: 206 Bhutan: 138 Cuba: 60

With 30 refugees in Tennessee, Syria ranks ninth among countries of origin.

Source: Tennessee Office for Refugees