Category: Local

Refugee Volunteers in Murfreesboro Say Government Contractor Didn’t Provide Resettlement Services

Chris Alto
Tennessee Star

  During the March “Murfreesboro Muslim Youth” (MMY) meeting soliciting help for refugees brought to Rutherford County by federal resettlement contractor World Relief, it was disclosed that goods and services that the government paid for were not provided to the new refugees. According to Abdou Kattih, founder and president of MMY, were it not for his organization, special emergency needs such as getting medical care for the refugee who arrived with a broken jaw or simply providing household essentials and even clothing, would not have been addressed, explaining they had taken care of “someone that does not have literally anything but the clothes they had off of last month.” (See 1:47 mark of YouTube video clip below.)   Melissa Sohrabi, who merged her group “Roots for Refugees” with MMY, was more direct in detailing the deficiencies of the government contractor in this talk she delivered in March: There is an expectation of what should happen and there’s reality of what really does happen.  . . Why didn’t World Relief give them a table and chairs? Why didn’t they bring them a couch? What’s going on? . . . Not only did it not happen but if it did happen, those…

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Haslam’s Muslim Advisory Council Wants Deportable Aliens to Stay in Tennessee

Chris Alto
Tennessee Star

  Tennessee’s American Muslim Advisory Council (AMAC) is objecting to certain Iraqi and Kurdish nationals living in Nashville being detained by ICE based on probable cause for deportation. AMAC has claimed that: All week, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents have been targeting and harassing Nashville’s Iraqi and Kurdish community members at their homes, on the road, and even at their workplaces, and all without a warrant to show. AMAC board member and spokesman Drost Kokoye acknowledges that some of the ICE detainees have criminal records and some may have overstayed their visas; either violation makes them a priority for deportation. AMAC, which grew out of a project sponsored by the TN Immigrant & Refugee Rights Coalition (TIRRC), was organized in 2011, to oppose anti-terrorism legislation passed by the Tennessee state legislature in response to the jihad perpetrated by Carlos Bledsoe, aka, Abdulhakim Mohammed. After the legislative session concluded, a picture was published showing the group that formed AMAC, receiving direct support and assistance from Tennessee’s Department of Safety and Homeland Security. A November 2011 letter signed by then Commissioner of Safety and Homeland Security Bill Gibbons stated: On behalf of the State of Tennessee and the Department of Safety and Homeland Security, I thank and…

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Twenty-One Cases of Criminalized Female Genital Mutilation in Tennessee But No Prosecutions

Chris Alto
Tennessee Star

  Despite being a Class D felony in Tennessee since 1996, and despite twenty-one cases of female genital mutilation (FGM) in the state being reported in 2011, there is no publicly available record of any prosecutions for this crime in Tennessee. This contrasts sharply with Michigan that has no state law criminalizing FGM but is where federal law is being used to aggressively prosecute three individuals alleged to have possibly mutilated up to 100 young girls. In 2012, Tennessee updated its FGM criminal law requiring healthcare providers to report cases of FGM to either a sheriff or chief of police “and shall also, in either event, report the same immediately to the district attorney general or a member of the district attorney general’s staff.” Sen. Bill Ketron who sponsored the 2012 bill explained that reporting to the district attorney (DA) was mandated in the statute because even though FGM was already illegal in Tennessee, “we had no mechanism for reporting under previous law which was a barrier to prosecution. So, that is what this bill was about – to stop this act from occurring in our state.” Shortly after The Tennessee Star’s first story about the Population Reference Bureau report…

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Metro Council Pushing Illegal Aliens Who Commit Crimes Back into Nashville Communities

Chris Alto

  This week, two proposed ordinances intended to effectuate sanctuary city practices that will protect illegal aliens who commit crimes in Davidson County, were introduced and processed through a first reading. The TN Immigrant & Refugee Rights Coalition (TIRRC), a formal affiliate of the National Council of La Raza and recipient of funding from George Soros, assisted the bills’s primary co-sponsors, Bob Mendes and Colby Sledge, in drafting the language. Sledge is married to TIRRC’s co-director Lindsey Harris. Two days after President Trump issued his Executive Order calling for enforcement of U.S. immigration laws and the removal of criminal aliens, TIRRC called for local governments to stop cooperating with federal immigration authorities, a key feature of sanctuary city policies and practices. Councilman Mendes denies that the bills create sanctuary policies. However, Mayor Megan Barry, Mendes, Sledge and TIRRC, have consistently used coded language reflective of their bias and objectives with references such as “undocumented immigrant,” “non-citizens,” “welcoming” and “family reunification” to signal their support for open borders and shielding both criminal and non-criminal illegal aliens from deportation. Openthebooks.com’s report which includes Nashville as a sanctuary city, says that “operationally, the DOJ enforces a legal definition of sanctuary city,” relying on…

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Nashville Metro Councilmen Collude with TIRRC to Shield Criminal Aliens

Chris Alto
Tennessee Star

  Claiming that their bills do not conflict with federal or state immigration statutes, Metro Council members Colby Sledge and Bob Mendes have introduced two sanctuary city bills that will help shield criminal and non-criminal illegal aliens in Nashville. The Tennessee Immigrant & Refugee Rights Coalition (TIRRC), whose co-director Lindsey Harris is married to Sledge, helped draft the bills. Shortly after President Trump issued his Executive Order calling for appropriate enforcement of U.S. immigration laws, TIRRC issued a state-wide call to organize against efforts by U.S. Immigration & Customs Enforcement to follow the President’s orders: Last week the president shared his blueprints for mass deportation and made clear he needs state and local agencies to act as his deportation force. Join with TIRRC members in your local area to stop your city/county from collaborating with ICE and to create communities of trust where all residents feel safe. Sign up here: www.tnimmigrant.org/trust . The Mendes/Sledge bills are scheduled for a first reading on June 6. Mendes’ website claims that his bills “would not create ‘sanctuary city’ status” even though the bills are designed to obstruct and possibly prohibit cooperating with ICE detainer requests, which the Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR) says are…

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Female Genital Mutilation in the U. S. Will Not Stop Until Public Health Officials Collect Valid Data On Its Prevalence

Chris Alto
Tennessee Star

  A 2016 Center for Disease Control (CDC) report estimates that “513,000 women and girls in the United States were at risk of or may have been subjected” to being mutilated, triple the number estimated in 1990.  Immigration from high prevalence FGM countries is considered the reason for the spike, but the CDC admits that “scientifically valid data” is needed to more accurately assess the problem. They claim, however, that this data would be difficult to obtain “due, in part, to the cultural and legal sensitivity of the information needed.” Two years ago, however, Britain established a national database and began requiring health care providers to report “any instance of FGM/C described to them or discovered during physical exams.” Tennessee’s 2012 FGM law is limited to reporting incidents of FGM in girls under age 18 to law enforcement. While twenty-one cases of FGM were reported in Tennessee in 2011, there is no publicly available record that any official action was taken against the perpetrators. Neither the Tennessee Department of Health nor Siloam Health Center, the provider for refugees’ initial medical exam and primary care which estimated that eighty-six percent of its patients were foreign born in 2012, collect data on FGM. In 2007, the Department of…

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OFF THE RECORD in Henry County

Chris Alto

  On May 25th, the Henry County GOP and Republican Women held a “Meet & Greet” reception for their state Senator John Stevens. Rep. Tim Wirgau who also represents Henry County, showed up to participate even though he had not been invited as a speaker. According to an attendee, both Stevens and Wirgau talked “pretty much in lock-step agreement on all issues discussed at this meeting.” Backing off of Boss Doss’ rebranded “Tax Cut Act of 2017” both Stevens and Wirgau talked extensively about the gas tax which they both supported, except now they were calling it Governor Haslam’s name for the tax increase – the “Improve Act of 2017”. Justifying their support for increasing taxes, both Wirgau and Stevens used what sounded like talking points provided to legislators that have to defend unpopular votes. Stevens started off by saying that, “”the voters should thank us for passing this bill!” He then went into great detail explaining how transiting big rigs will pay Tennessee fuel tax regardless of which state they refuel in because the International Federal Tax Agreement law which apportions fuel tax according to miles traveled in a specific state using specific states’ rates, will result in the big rigs paying 40% of…

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Illegal Alien, Convicted of 2012 Sex Crime in Robertson County and Deported, Arrested Again at Arizona Border

Chris Alto
Tennessee Star

  Robertson County convicted sexual predator Jose Pineda Torres, an illegal alien, was again arrested yesterday for violating U.S. immigration laws. In 2012, Torres was convicted for attempted aggravated sexual battery and subsequently deported. On May 24, 2017, he was arrested in the Tuscon Sector by Border Patrol as he again crossed the border illegally. Since Torres had previously been deported, his illegal re-entry is a felony.  He was turned over to ICE for detention. When an illegal alien is apprehended by Border Patrol, all available law enforcement databases are checked and any criminal conviction information is logged into the Customs and Border Protection (CBP) database regardless of whether the crime was committed in the U.S. Between fiscal years 2015 and 2016, under the Obama administration’s immigration enforcement policies, criminal aliens apprehended at the border had convictions categorized in the database as follows: Assault, battery, domestic violence                                        2,758 Burglary, robberty, larceny, theft, fraud                                2,311 Driving under the influence                    …

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New Bill in Congress Will Turn Back Obama-Era Policies and Begin Real Reform of Immigration

Chris Alto

  ICE director Sarah Saldana, sworn in during the Obama administration, submitted written testimony during an April 2016 Congressional hearing documenting that from fiscal year 2013 to 2015, over 86,000 illegal criminal aliens who had been arrested and convicted for committing a crime, were released back into the United States instead of being deported. On May 18, 2017, U.S. House members Raul Labrador, Vice-chairman of the Immigration and Border Security Subcommittee and Bob Goodlatte, Chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, introduced H.R.2431, the “Michael Davis, Jr. and Danny Oliver in Honor of State and Local Law Enforcement Act” (Davis-Oliver Act) intended to make significant inroads in turning back the effect of Obama-era immigration policies that undermined the public safety in many communities. The Davis-Oliver Act is named after two California law enforcement officers killed in the line of duty by an illegal alien gang member who had already been deported multiple times. Chairman Bob Goodlatte’s opening statement before taking up the Davis-Oliver Act, referred to the effect of “the Obama Administration’s neglect to enforce our immigration laws:” Under the guise of ‘prosecutorial discretion’ and so-called ‘enforcement priorities’, removable aliens were essentially free to roam our country unless they had been convicted of…

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Nashville Lawyers Help Illegal Criminal Aliens Remain in Tennessee Communities

Chris Alto

  “Fighting for immigrant rights” is what Nashville attorney Elliott Ozment does.  He is one of the lawyers suing Metro Nashville, Davidson County and Sheriff Daron Hall, on behalf of the Saudi visa overstayer and the “hundred and likely thousands of immigrants” subject to ICE detainer requests. Ozment helps  illegal aliens who have committed crimes remain in Tennessee communities. Ozment Law’s website says: At Ozment Law, we have helped hundreds of legal and undocumented immigrants in Nashville and the surrounding areas obtain the necessary documentation to be able to work and live in the U.S. without fear of deportation. “Undocumented immigrant” is a term that purposely obscures the fact that U.S. immigration laws have been violated and suggests that legal immigration status is merely a matter of completing some paperwork. Activist liberal groups like the National Council of La Raza (NCLR) and the TN Immigrant & Refugee Rights Coalition (TIRRC) also use “undocumented immigrant” even though U.S. law and the U.S. Supreme Court refer to foreign nationals who enter the country without authorization as “illegal aliens.” A May 3, 2017, blog post on the Ozment Law website asks the question, “Do I have to leave the country after being convicted of a crime?” followed by…

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Activist Lawyers Admit Nashville Has an Illegal Immigration Problem

Chris Alto
Tennessee Star

  On April 7, 2017, Nashville activist pro-illegal immigration lawyers Elliot Ozment, J. Gerard Stranch, IV, Tricia Herzfeld and Anthony Orlandi, sued Metro Nashville, Davidson County and Sheriff Daron Hall, on behalf of Saudi national Abdullah Abriq, who overstayed his student visa, and “hundred and likely thousands of immigrants” subject to detainer requests issued by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and that “[u]pon information and belief, the Defendants have taken custody of, and detained, thousands of Administrative Detainees over the past five years.” ICE has the responsibility and authority to detain foreign nationals who overstay their visas and those who have entered the U.S. illegally even if they have not committed a criminal offense. So far in fiscal year 2017, thirty-seven percent of immigration offenders adjudicated in immigration court involving either simple immigration violations and/or a criminal offense, have been allowed to remain in Tennessee. Of cases where the judge permits the offender to remain, over 1,000 of the cases involve immigration violations while sixteen are classified as “criminal/national security/terror.” Abriq’s lawsuit alleges that without a valid agreement with ICE, Nashville’s Sheriff Daron Hall has no authority to comply with ICE detainer requests and as a result, violated the plaintiffs’ Fourth…

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Former Lt. Gov. Ron Ramsey Says ‘There Was Some Punishment Levied Against Some House Members’ for Voting No on Gas Tax

Chris Alto

During a press conference in Blountville, former Lt. Governor Ron Ramsey said that, “[w]hen I was in the legislature, let me assure you, actions had consequences,” as the reason why none of the new transportation funding is headed to Washington County. Ramsey summed it up this way: “There was no doubt, in the end, that there was some punishment levied against some House members on funding. Not against the Senate members, but against the House members.” For example, Ramsey said the Senate included funding for the Sullivan County Agriculture Center and East Tennessee State University, after which the House stripped away some of the funding. Rep. Timothy Hill, whose district covers Johnson County and parts of Carter and Sullivan Counties, voted against the gas tax. “Well, Timothy Hill’s district is the Ag Center. That’s one. I even made a phone call to say, ‘That this is kind of my pet project.’ It’s not up to the House members on that, but still they felt like it was time to ‘exact a pound of flesh’ was exactly the words that I heard” No TDOT projects were included for Johnson County which Hill also represents. Similarly, there were no TDOT projects listed for…

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Illegal Immigrant Lawfare Could Turn Nashville Into a Sanctuary City

Chris Alto
Tennessee Star

  On April 7, 2017, Saudi national Abdullah Mansour Abriq, a former student at Tennessee State University, sued Metro Nashville, Davidson County and their sheriff Daron Hall alleging that being held in the Davidson County jail on a detainer request from Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), violates his constitutional rights and that the sheriff is prohibited from cooperating with ICE. The lawsuit, filed in federal court with Abriq as the lead plaintiff, is a class action on behalf of “hundred and likely thousands of immigrants” being held because of ICE detainer requests, and will be heard by Obama nominated Chief Judge Waverly Crenshaw whose lifetime appointment was supported by Tennessee Senators Alexander and Corker. Abriq is identified in the complaint as a “foreign national who immigrated to the United States under an F-1 student visa.” The F-1 visa is a type of non-immigrant visa that allows a person to be educated in the U.S. if they meet certain conditions. Typically, absent an extension, the student must leave the country once the term or conditions of the visa expire. Visa overstayers are considered unlawfully present in the U.S. and can be deported. In 2016, a bill endorsed by the Haslam administration…

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Gubernatorial Candidates Randy Boyd and Karl Dean Will Fight for Votes of Political Moderates

Chris Alto
Tennessee Star

  Four months into his 2015 appointment as the new Commissioner of Economic and Community Development, and two years before he announced his run for governor, Randy Boyd told his hometown weekly that, “I’m probably the most hated, disrespected, untolerated political entity in existence… I’m a moderate.” Former Nashville Mayor Karl Dean, the first declared gubernatorial Democrat candidate also describes himself as a moderate and recognizes that he will need “moderate Republican votes” in order to win. Both candidates say education and economics are the top priorities, both say they are business-friendly and both shower admiration on Haslam’s leadership. For voters, however, even those who identify as “moderate” or “independent,” it will be difficult to distinguish between Boyd and Dean, except perhaps for choosing whether to vote in the Republican or Democrat primary. Political analysts suggest that states with open primaries like Tennessee, work to the advantage of moderate candidates. Both candidates have been married to the same partner for a long time and while Boyd made his fortune by copying a similar commercially available product, Dean married into his wealth.  His wife Delta Anne Davis, is an heir to the millions her uncle Joe C. Davis made through the coal…

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OFF THE RECORD

Chris Alto
Tennessee Star - Off the Record

OOOPS…Corker caught on tape Last Saturday during Bob Corker’s talk to the TN GOP State Executive Committee members, an observer just happened to switch on their phone when Corker was asked to comment about the state’s lawsuit against the feds over the refugee resettlement issue.  If you’ve ever taken the time to contact Corker’s Senate office with a comment that is something other than a compliment or praise for the Senator, you likely received a circuitous non-response which is sometimes referred to as being “blown off.” In typical Corker fashion, he throws out a bone to conservatives in the crowd because he thinks they haven’t yet figured out that he is not a conservative.  What conservatives in Tennessee do know is that when Corker first went to D.C. in 2007, he was openly against illegal immigration (not to confuse illegal immigration with refugee resettlement which is legal immigration). He was so against it that he said, that to be “fair to American citizens,” illegal aliens should have to leave and then re-enter before they could apply to be here legally….. Then after spending too many years in Washington, he supported the 2013 “Gang of Eight” illegal immigration amnesty bill. On Saturday,…

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Chaos at the Capitol: Democrats’ Quid Pro Quo Education Money for Gas Tax Votes Passes, But Budget in Limbo

Chris Alto
Tennessee Star

Thursday on the House floor, between recesses where Republicans were presumably working out their differences over parts of the budget, and working their way through a pile of amendments to HB511, Democrat Rep. Craig Fitzhugh, the House Minority Leader, went to bat for a third time to secure a pot of recurring education money to be used at the discretion of local school districts. Fitzhugh opened his remarks by acknowledging a “rumor” that the Democrats had cut a deal with Governor – gas tax votes for the education slush fund, but he denied that there was any quid pro quo agreement. The starting bid for Fitzhugh’s proposed K-12 Block Grant Act was $500 million which he admitted was “ambitious.” It was then reduced to $250 million which he admitted was also “too much.” The new amount introduced in Amendment #7 to the budget, was further reduced to $150 million, money that Fitzhugh said would go to all the state’s public schools, poor and rich alike. Appealing to his House colleagues to pass his amendment, Fitzhugh said that approving the block grant funds that would be held in a trust fund would help get around the Copeland Cap problem. Fitzhugh closed…

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Nashville Refugee Service Provider Siloam Health Uses Culturally Sensitive But Problematic Term ‘Female Circumcision’

Chris Alto

  Dr. Jim Henderson, medical director for Siloam Health Care Services, Inc., uses the terms “female circumcision” and female genital mutilation (FGM) interchangeably, responding to questions from The Tennessee Star about the state’s female FGM reporting law. Except, “female circumcision” has been rejected as an accurate description of the barbaric FGM practice by the World Health Organization, UNICEF, the National Organization for Women, human rights organizations and perhaps most importantly, by anti-FGM activists  who were mutilated in their home countries like Jaha Dukureh, founder of Safe Hands For Girls: As an infant growing up in Gambia, I experienced Female Genital Mutilation. It took away a part of my femininity, my ownership to my body. Some girls, including my half-sister who died from complications from being cut, even lose their lives. Siloam Health serves as the Statewide Refugee Screening Coordinator for Tennessee and a primary care provider for refugees: As you may know, every refugee that’s resettled in Nashville passes through the doors of Siloam Health for his or her initial medical screening exams. Many of these refugees eventually become our primary care patients, and it is our privilege to get to know them over time as they become a vital part of…

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Siloam Health Chooses Not to Help Stop Female Genital Mutilation in Tennessee

Chris Alto
Tennessee Star

  Working in partnership with Catholic Charities’ TN Office for Refugees, Siloam Health Care Services, Inc., headquartered in Nashville, serves as the Statewide Refugee Screening Coordinator for Tennessee and provides the initial domestic medical screening for refugees resettling in Middle Tennessee. Siloam also contracts with Christ Community Health Center in Memphis, and Cherokee Health Systems in Chattanooga and Knoxville to provide the medical screenings in East and West Tennessee where federal resettlement contractors are bringing refugees. Siloam has confirmed to the Tennessee Star that they do not screen for FGM as part of a refugee’s initial exam, and because Siloam says they don’t provide follow-up primary care for the refugees, they have no idea what the “actual prevalence of FGM among refugees” might be: Performing a pelvic exam is not a routine part of that first exam.  For that reason we can’t comment on how prevalent FGM is among the refugees that we screen.  Follow-up care (continuity of care or ongoing primary care) is with local TennCare practitioners in the county, so the actual prevalence of FGM among refugees may be known by others in our community. However, Siloam’s January 29, 2017, Facebook post expressly acknowledges the continuing medical-patient relationship with “many” of the refugees who…

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No Screening for Female Genital Mutilation Among Arriving Refugees in Nashville During Initial Medical Exam

Chris Alto

Siloam Health, staffed with full-time medical providers, is located in Nashville and operates as a “faith-based, volunteer-supported clinic for people with no health insurance and limited resources.” In 2012, Siloam estimated that eighty-six percent of its patients were foreign born. The health center contracts with Catholic Charities’ TN Office for Refugees to provide immunizations and initial medical screenings for refugees brought to Tennessee by the federal refugee resettlement contractors, but its medical director has no idea “how prevalent FGM is among the refugees that we screen.” Dr. Jim Henderson, Siloam’s medical director confirmed the health center follows the Center for Disease Control (CDC) “Domestic Medical Screening Guidelines for Newly Arrived Refugees” for the initial medical screening they provide and that: Performing a pelvic exam is not a routine part of that first exam.  For that reason we can’t comment on how prevalent FGM is among the refugees that we screen.  Follow-up care (continuity of care or ongoing primary care) is with local TennCare practitioners in the county, so the actual prevalence of FGM among refugees may be known by others in our community. The CDC offers twelve separate guidelines for a refugee’s initial medical screening including one for the “History and…

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Nashville To Teach Officials From Germany, Where Female Genital Mutilation Has Increased 40 Percent, How to ‘Welcome’ Immigrants

Chris Alto

Twenty-five “integration practitioners” from Germany will visit several U.S. cities in May, including Nashville, as part of the Welcoming Communities Transatlantic Exchange program to learn how immigrants  and refugees are welcomed and integrated (as opposed to assimilated) in these locations. As part of the exchange program, representatives from the U.S. will pay a reciprocal visit to Germany in November. As in Tennessee, Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) is illegal in Germany. However, increased and virtually unrestrained immigration to Germany from countries where FGM is commonly practiced, has, in two short years, resulted in a 40% increase in the number of women living in Germany who have been victimized by FGM. The government’s report notes that while most of the immigrants were mutilated before entering Germany, “the government highlighted an increased risk of the operations happening on home soil. According to the data, as many as 5,700 girls per year could be mutilated under current conditions.” Germany’s data shows that most of the FGM victims come from Eritrea, Somalia, Egypt, Ethiopia or Iraq, some of the same high prevalence FGM countries of the refugees brought to Nashville, the primary resettlement location for refugees in Tennessee. Data assembled by the Population Reference Bureau that shows…

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Preliminary Vote on Amendment to Adopt Gas Tax Increase Bill Passes House 61-35, Final Vote Expected Tonight

Admin
Tennessee Star

  An amendment by State Rep. Charles Sargent (R-Franklin), a motion to adopt the IMPROVE Act “Tax Cut Act of 2017,” HB 534, passed the Tennessee House of Representatives Wednesday afternoon in a 61-35 vote. This was a preliminary vote prior to the anticipated final vote on  IMPROVE Act “Tax Cut Act of 2017,” which is expected to come late Wednesday. Thirty-four Republicans, joined by a solitary Democrat, State Rep. John Mark Windle, voted against the motion to adopt. A full list of the 34 Republicans and one Democrat who voted no was compiled by reporters for The Tennessee Star on the scene (click at the bottom to see the second page): [pdf-embedder url=”https://tennesseestar.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/IMPROVE-Act-Amendment-House-Vote-4-19-17.pdf” title=”IMPROVE Act Amendment House Vote 4-19-17″] Notable among those Republicans who voted no were State Rep. Matthew Hill, State Rep. Timothy Hill, State Rep. David Hawk, State Rep. Sheila Butt, State Rep. William Lamberth, State Rep. Judd Matheny, State Rep. Jerry Sexton, and Speaker Beth Harwell. Twenty-three Democrats voted for the motion to adopt, along with 38 Republicans. Notable among those Republicans who voted yes were Majority Leader State Rep. Glen Casada, State Rep. Susan Lynn, State Rep. David Alexander, State Rep. John Ragan, and State Rep. Bill Dunn.…

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Female Genital Mutilation a Felony in Tennessee, But TBI Does Not Document Number of Cases in Annual Crime Report

Chris Alto
Tennessee Star

  Both the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) and the Population Reference Bureau (PRB) agree that over 500,000 women and girls in the U.S. are either at risk for female genital mutilation (FGM) or have already been mutilated. The CDC estimates that the risk has tripled since 1990, and the PRB estimates rank Tennessee 18th in the country for risk to women and girls from FGM. The dramatic increase in risk is attributed to immigrants, including refugees, who come to the U.S. from high FGM prevalence countries. Despite Tennessee’s twenty-one cases of FGM in 2011 cited during discussion of the FGM reporting bill that became law in 2012, the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation (TBI) does not consider this Class D felony as serious as a “lovers’ quarrel” to warrant a break-out category in its annual “Crime in Tennessee” report. Sen. Bill Ketron sponsored the 2012 bill that now requires immediate reporting of suspected incidents of FGM to law enforcement officials.  Motivated by a sense of moral outrage regarding the practice of FGM, Sen. Ketron told The Tennessee Star that “This is a basic human rights issue. No one should be mutilated in this manner. It’s a despicable act of abuse.” Importantly, Sen. Ketron said…

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Mark White’s In-State Tuition for Illegal Immigrant Students Will be Back in 2018

Chris Alto

  In the House Education committee today, State Rep. Mark White (R-Memphis) moved his second bill, HB660 that would legalize in-state tuition for illegal immigrant students in Tennessee, to the 2018 legislative session. Last week when this bill failed in committee on a 6-6 vote, White indicated he would seek a motion for the committee to reconsider their action on the bill, but likely discovered that he could not overcome the required procedural hurdle. Moving his bill to 2018, allows him to avoid having the motion to reconsider fail, earning yet another strike against his campaign to secure in-state tuition for illegal immigrant students. White’s first bill this year that would have granted in-state tuition to illegal immigrant students, HB863, was voted down in committee in a 7-6 vote.  This bill closely tracked the language of his 2015 bill, HB675, that failed on the House floor by one vote. During an earlier House Education subcommittee hearing on White’s HB660, concern was raised by Chairman Harry Brooks, as to whether Section 5 of the bill would allow the school governing boards to offer in-state tuition to illegal immigrant students because that section removes the paying of in-state tuition from being a state…

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Council on American Islamic Relations, Unindicted Co-Conspirator in Terror Financing, Opposes Mark Green Nomination

Chris Alto
Tennessee Star

  The Council on American Islamic Relations (CAIR) a named unindicted co-conspirator in the federal 2008 Holy Land Foundation (HLF) trial, the largest terrorism financing prosecution in the U.S., is opposing President Trump’s nomination of Tennessee state Senator Mark Green for Secretary of the Army. CAIR has joined LGBT advocacy groups like the Human Rights Campaign to work against Green’s confirmation. Both groups are leveling “phobic” claims against Green. Green, is a West Point graduate and Iraq war veteran who was deployed three times during his term of service. After completing his training in emergency room medicine, he served as a special operations flight surgeon during the 2003 Red Dawn raid that resulted in the capture of Saddam Hussein.  Green monitored Hussein during the 24 hours prior to his extraction. Green received a variety of awards during his years of service. After leaving the military, he founded Align MD, an emergency room staffing company and the Align MD Foundation which provides health care to underserved populations. The Foundation operates free medical clinics in several cities and organizes medical missions trips to places like Ethiopia and Cambodia. CAIR was founded by the Islamic Association for Palestine (IAP) which was established to advance the political…

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No Evidence Haslam Administration Requires Reporting of Female Genital Mutilation to Tennessee Department of Health, Despite High Potential Risk in Nashville

Chris Alto

  The Nashville-Davidson-Murfreesboro-Franklin Metropolitan Statistical Area is ranked 20th in the country for the potential risk of female genital mutilation (FGM) being performed on women and girls, as reported by the Population Reference Bureau. Among state rankings Tennessee is number 18  overall for risk to women and girls from FGM. Yet under the administration of Governor Bill Haslam, the Tennessee Department of Health (TDH) does not require any reporting of FGM by Tennessee healthcare providers to the TDH, so far as The Tennessee Star can determine based on publicly available records. The 2017 mandated reporting to the TDH by healthcare providers of “diseases, events, and conditions” which includes both communicable diseases and “events” such as lead levels and carbon monoxide poisoning, but does not include any form of female genital mutilation (FGM), despite a state law passed in 2012 specifically for the purpose of reporting FGM. The TDH’s Maternal and Child Health Services Title V Block Grant FY 2017 Application and Annual report which is administered in part for TDH initiatives related to Maternal and Child Health (MCH), specifically references the FGM prohibition as one of the state laws that provide “basic protections for the MCH population” and which applies to TDH’s use of…

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Nashville-Murfreesboro-Franklin Metro Area One of Top 20 Places in U.S. Where Women and Girls at Risk for Female Genital Mutilation

Chris Alto
Tennessee Star

Tennessee outlawed female genital mutilation (FGM) in 1996, but 2013 data collated in a Population Reference Bureau (PRB) report, shows that the Nashville-Davidson-Murfreesboro-Franklin Metropolitan Statistical Area is ranked 20th in the country for the potential risk of FGM being performed on women and girls. Tennessee is number 18 in overall state rankings for risk to women and girls from FGM. The Population Reference Bureau is a non-profit supported financially by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Girl Scouts of the USA, and the United States Agency for International Development and several other foundations. The Center for Disease Control (CDC) includes the terms FGM, female circumcision and female genital excision, under the broader heading of “female genital cutting:” “Female genital cutting refers to all procedures involving partial or total removal of female genitalia or other injury to female genital organs for any cultural, religious or otherwise nontherapeutic reasons. This practice is common in many refugee populations, particularly those from East Africa (i.e. Somalia, Ethiopia, Sudan), although the practice is pervasive throughout the world. This controversial practice is considered a human rights violation by many, and it is illegal in the United States in people under 18 years of age.”  [pdf-embedder url=”https://tennesseestar.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/us-fgmc-all-metros-table.pdf”]   Minneapolis, Minnesota,…

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If Education Committee Follows House Rules Mark White’s Bill Will Fail Again

Chris Alto

Section 5 of Rep. Mark White’s (R-Memphis) bill, HB660, would have allowed the governing boards of state colleges and universities to grant in-state tuition to illegal immigrant students. Despite amending his bill to remove Section 5, the bill failed for lack of a majority in the House Education committee this week. If the Education committee follows the Permanent Rules of Order of the Tennessee House of Representatives the 110th General Assembly, White’s bill will not be revived for a new vote by the committee. White has put his bill back “on notice” for the committee’s meeting on Tuesday, April 18th.  However, before the committee can vote on the bill again, a motion for reconsideration would need to be offered and passed. It has been confirmed with the House Office of the Chief Clerk, that a motion to reconsider White’s bill would have to be offered by a committee member of the “prevailing party.” It was also confirmed that when a bill fails to achieve a majority vote as in this case of the 6-6 vote on White’s bill, the “prevailing party” would be someone who voted against the bill. Should any of the committee members who voted “no,” move to reconsider the…

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State Rep. Terri Lynn Weaver: School Bus Seat Belts a Bad Idea

Wendy Wilson
Tennessee Star

  State Rep. Terri Lynn Weaver on Wednesday called a bill that would require seat belts on Tennessee school buses “emotionally-driven” and  “bad policy.” Weaver (R-Lancaster) made her comments when the proposed legislation was brought before the House Education Administration and Planning Committee. The bill is sponsored in the House by Rep. JoAnne Favors (D-Chattanooga) and in the Senate by Sen. Todd Gardenhire (R-Chattanooga). It comes in the aftermath of a Chattanooga school bus crash in November in which six children were killed and others injured. Bus driver Johnthony Walker was charged with vehicular homicide. Police say Walker was speeding when the bus crashed into a tree and flipped over. Weaver said requiring seat belts could lead to more deaths as a result of little children not being able to work themselves out of their restraints, especially if a bus caught fire or ended up in water. “This is a very dangerous bill,” Weaver said. The bill originally called for any bus purchased starting July 2018 to be equipped with a restraint system and required any bus currently in use to have seat belts by July 2023. The bill was later amended to require only buses purchased starting July 2019 to have seat…

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BREAKING: Mark White’s Second Bill That Would Have Granted In-State Tuition to Illegal Immigrants Fails

Chris Alto

Rep. Mark White’s (R-Memphis) second bill, HB660, that if left unamended, would have allowed the governing boards of state colleges and universities to grant in-state tuition to illegal immigrant students, failed in the House Education committee for lack of a majority on a 6-6 vote. During committee testimony, the TN Board of Regents lobbyist explained that for their institutions, this bill was about revenue – filling seats in their schools and being able to make their own rules about border state recruiting.  The UT lobbyist explained that flexibility in being able to offer in-state tuition as part of the universities’ business model could be more beneficial than the revenue generated by out-of-state tuition. In sponsoring this bill, Rep. White wanted to uniformly expand the authority of the new school governing boards that were created by the Governor’s FOCUS Act, but White also used the bill as an opportunity to have a second bite at the apple to give illegal immigrant students access to in-state tuition should his other bill, HB863 fail to pass.  That bill was defeated in the House Education committee yesterday. During an earlier House Education subcommittee hearing, concern was raised by Chairman Harry Brooks, as to whether…

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Next Bill That Could Grant In-State Tuition to Illegal Immigrant Students on Education Calendar Today

Chris Alto

  Rep. Mark White (R-Memphis) and Sen. Todd Gardenhire (R-Chattanooga) have sponsored two bills this session that would grant in-state tuition to illegal immigrant students. HB863 failed in the House Education committee Tuesday on a 7-6 vote but Rep. White’s other bill, HB660, looks like it will be the first bill considered by the committee on Wednesday morning. This White/Gardenhire bill would authorize the new college and university governing boards to decide which students are eligible to pay in-state tuition rates. “The bill is designed to allow each local community and institution to do what is best for their institution” is how Rep. White’s office described the bill in an email to the Tennessee Star. Importantly, however, HB660 “exempts the extension of in-state tuition that this amendment provides from the definition of ‘state or local public benefit’ under the ‘Eligibility Verification for Entitlements Act’” according to an earlier email statement from Paul Marsh in Rep. White’s office. Last year, the Tennessee legislature passed Governor Haslam’s FOCUS Act enabling the six universities in the Board of Regents system, including Tennessee Tech, Tennessee State University and MTSU to have their own boards that among other duties, will oversee tuition. When White’s HB660…

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Rep. Mark White Says ‘Right Thing to Do’ to Help Illegal Immigrant Student Go to UT Law School; Committee Rejects His In-State Tuition Bill

Chris Alto

  Rep. Mark White (R-Memphis) applauded the testimony of an illegal immigrant student before the House Education committee moments before his bill to provide in-state tuition to all illegal immigrant students failed to pass the committee on Tuesday. Karla Mesa Cruz from Knoxville told the committee today that she wants to go to UT Knoxville and get a law degree from UT Knoxville Law School. She told the committee that she had come to Knoxville when she was three but when she began to investigate going to college, learned that she would have to pay out-of-state tuition.  She told the committee she just didn’t “understand why.” Rep. Mark White told the committee that this was the third time he was trying to pass a bill that would allow illegal immigrant students to pay in-state tuition, because “it’s the right thing to do.” Repeating many of the same talking points as in years past, White’s bill was defeated on a narrow vote of 7 against and 6 in favor on Tuesday. Democrats Raumesh Akbari, Johnnie Turner, John DeBerry and Craig Fitzhugh voted yes, joined by Republicans Mark White and Harry Brooks. Republicans voting no were Jimmy Matlock, Eddie Smith, Terri Lynn…

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In-State Tuition For Illegal Immigrants Fails in House Committee

Wendy Wilson
Tennessee Star

  A Tennessee bill that would have offered in-state college tuition to illegal immigrants died in a House committee Tuesday morning, effectively ending its path forward this legislative session. The Education Administration and Planning Committee shot down the bill in a close and emotional 6-7 vote. The bill was sponsored in the House by Rep. Mark White (R-Memphis) and has been sponsored in the Senate by Sen. Todd Gardenhire (R-Chattanooga). Both are Republicans. “I cannot pass the burden onto the taxpayers of Tennessee,” said Rep. Dawn White (R-Murfreesboro) during a discussion before the vote. She said Tennessee would become a magnet for illegal immigrant families who would want their children to be able to take advantage of in-state tuition. The influx would create a need for more schools at the K-12 level and raise property taxes at time when some schools already have a number of portable classrooms, she said. Similar legislation passed in the Senate in 2015 but failed by just one vote in the House. Rep. Mark White, the House bill sponsor, was overcome with emotion Tuesday and seemed near tears as he asked for support for the bill. He said young people brought to the U.S. through no…

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Open Borders La Raza Affiliate Adds Office in Memphis

Chris Alto
Tennessee Star

Nashville based TN Immigrant & Refugee Rights Coalition (TIRRC), a formal affiliate of the National Council of La Raza (NCLR), recently opened an office in Memphis. They are sharing office space with the Mid-South Peace and Justice Center (MSPJC), a “multi-issue, multi-race organization whose mission is to engage, organize, and mobilize communities to realize social justice through nonviolent action.” TIRRC has been the lead organization lobbying for “tuition equality” (meaning citizens and illegal immigrants get the same state benefit), when the first bill was introduced in 2014.  MSPJC, itself a coalition of member organizations was an early supporter of the campaign for “tuition equality.” Establishing a store-front in Memphis brings TIRRC back to its roots since it’s first executive director, David Lubell started his advocacy career with Latino Memphis as a community organizer, leaving in 2001, to start TIRRC in Nashville with an early infusion of funding from a U.S. Office of Refugee Resettlement grant to the Nashville Chamber of Commerce for the Building the New American Community initiative, a pilot program designed to facilitate immigration and integration in non-traditional gateway cities like Nashville. The grant emphasized training new immigrants how to be civically engaged which translated into working for political power…

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Tennessee Farm Bureau Supports Haslam’s Gas Tax Because They Don’t Have to Pay It

Chris Alto
Tennessee Star

  Since January 2008, Tennessee farmers have benefitted from expanded agricultural tax exemptions, including sales and use taxes on “gasoline or diesel fuel used for ‘agricultural purposes’ as defined in Tenn. Code Ann. Section 67-6-102.” Farmers in Tennessee who own or lease “agricultural land from which $1,000 or more of agricultural products were produced and sold during the year, including payments from government sources,” are exempt from paying tax on “off road” use of gasoline and diesel fuels. A full year before Governor Haslam released his “IMPROVE Act” that raises the tax on gas and diesel fuel, Tennessee Farm Bureau’s (TFB) president Jeff Aiken said: “We could support a fiscally responsible state fuel tax increase, if and only if the money that was taken out of the funds under the Bredesen administration were first returned to the fund, and as long as the monies collected would go toward building and maintenance of roads and bridges in the state and nothing else.” Despite Haslam explicitly admitting that that up to $70 million of the gas tax can be spent on mass transit by cities and counties, the TFB has not withdrawn their support for the proposed fuel tax increases. In fact, last…

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Tennessee Farm Bureau Wants In-State Tuition For Illegal Immigrant Students

Chris Alto
Tennessee Star - Top Story

  The Tennessee Farm Bureau (TFB) is reputed to be the largest farm bureau in the country. Its mission statement is: To develop, foster, promote and protect programs for the general welfare, including economic, social, educational and political well-being of farm people of the great state of Tennessee. The American Farm Bureau Federation (AFBF), is a non-profit organization with affiliate farm bureaus in all 50 states, including Tennessee. In 2016 the AFBF reported employing eighteen registered lobbyists. Among the services the AFBF provides is training new state farm bureau presidents. In 2013, like the AFBF, the TFB issued a statement of support for the proposed comprehensive immigration reform bill that the Congressional Budget Office concluded a category of “legalization” for illegal immigrants currently residing in the U.S. “The Tennessee Farm Bureau Federation is proud to stand today beside our friends with the Tennessee Chamber of Commerce and Industry and our fellow business families in support of S.744 the Border Security, Economic Opportunity and Immigration Modernization Act. We believe this bipartisan immigration bill is a balanced reform bill, it includes fair and workable farm labor provisions, and it will help ensure an adequate supply of farm labor. After Congress failed to pass…

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Randy Boyd Uses Haslam’s ‘Leadership Tennessee’ to Advance His Gubernatorial Platform

Chris Alto
Tennessee Star

  Leadership Tennessee, a program funded by Governor Haslam and his allies, was launched to promote “collaborative leadership” across political, cultural and business lines that could problem-solve for the “common good.” Complete Tennessee is gubernatorial candidate Randy Boyd’s initiative to “complete the mission of education and economic development initiatives” of the Haslam administration. According to the President of The Cornerstone Foundation a funder and early promoter of Leadership Tennessee, a “terrific example of collaboration in action” was SCORE’s Executive Director Jamie Woodson, the biggest and most well-financed lobbyist for Common Core in Tennessee. Common Core standards championed by the Obama Department of Education, the Gates Foundation and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, was a cornerstone of Haslam’s education reform platform during his 2010 gubernatorial campaign. Haslam’s plan to fully embed these standards into Tennessee’s K-12 system was derailed in 2013 by House conservatives. Five months before announcing himself as a gubernatorial candidate Randy Boyd who describes himself as a  political “moderate,” launched Complete Tennessee, “a nonprofit 501(c)3 education advocacy organization focused on increasing postsecondary access and completion in Tennessee.” Boyd is getting help in his “complete” mission from fellow Leadership Tennessee classmate, Janet Ayers who is a Complete Tennessee and SCORE board…

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State Rep. Jerry Sexton Calls Out Hypocrisy of Gas Tax Supporters Who Oppose Use of Sales Taxes for Road Construction

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Fireworks erupted on the floor of the Tennessee House of Representativesewhen the typically rapid-fire tick-tock of the day’s agenda was interrupted as Rep. Jerry Sexton (R-Bean Station) questioned Rep. Ryan Williams (R-Cookeville) on the “special privilege” of professional sports teams re-directing sale tax revenues back to a Nashville municipal organization whose purpose is to promote sporting events and sports teams. Rep. Sexton drew a strong parallel between the redirection of those funds – which Williams supports – and the redirection a small portion of sales tax revenues for the benefit of road construction, improvements and repairs – which Williams opposes. Williams supports of Gov. Haslam’s plan to raise taxes on gas and diesel to fund road construction instead. Sexton pointedly called out the hypocrisy of supporters of Haslam’s gas tax increase plan, who claim road construction can only be funded by “user fees” of those who use roads, while sports team stadiums can be funded by those who do not use or attend events at those stadiums. Sexton made his remarks during a debate “over an unrelated bill on the House floor on Thursday that would redirect sales taxes collected at a proposed Major League Soccer stadium in Nashville to be…

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Gardenhire Says Illegal Immigrant Students Will Pay For Empty Seats in State Colleges

Chris Alto

The Gardenhire/White bills SB1014/HB863 granting in-state college tuition to illegal immigrant students are moving through their respective chambers.  As reported by The Tennessee Star, the Senate Education Committee passed Gardenhire’s bill last week in a 7-2 vote.  Yesterday, the House Education Subcommittee on Planning & Administration was passed on a voice vote by Republican members Harry Brooks, Mark White, Eddie Smith and Democrats John DeBerry and Johnnie Turner. Rep. Dawn White asked to be recorded as a no vote. The House bill is scheduled to be heard by the full Education Planning & Administration Committee next Tuesday, and the Senate bill has been referred to Senate Finance, Ways & Means Committee. Gardenhire’s first attempt in 2014, never made it out of the Education Committee. The 2015 version of the Gardenhire/White bill passed the Senate 21-12. Despite a 49-47 House vote in favor of the bill it failed to achieve the constitutionally required 50 vote minimum. Illegal immigrant students including any student granted a temporary two-year deferred deportation under Obama’s DACA program, are ineligible for federal financial aid for school. However, states and individual schools have discretion to provide financial assistance. Tennessee’s HOPE lottery scholarship can be used at both four…

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FAKE NEWS: State Rep. Andy Holt Declares NewsChannel 5’s Traffic Camera Citation ‘Investigation’ of Him a Sham

Tina LaFleur
Tennessee Star

  Tennessee State Representative Andy Holt (R-Dresden) fired back at so-called “fake news” regarding a report by News Channel 5’s Ben Hall. In a statement, Representative Holt shot down the local reporter’s implication that Holt – a notorious and outspoken opponent of automatically operated “red light cameras” by third-party vendors as a revenue generator for the state – somehow hid his record of unpaid traffic citations. Hall’s report is literally the definition of fake news. There’s a very simple reason I refused to talk to Mr. Hall about my traffic camera tickets. He’s a known peddler of fake, biased news. It’s actually funny that he fell right into the trap by writing a misleading headline and creating a fake story because I wouldn’t talk to him. The truth is, I’m more than happy to talk about my unpaid traffic camera citations, and I have been very public about that. I welcome any real journalist to come in my office, sit down with me, and report on the real story. Instead, Representative Holt said Hall’s story was a massive missed opportunity for the journalist to expose a very serious and corrupt operation. Mr. Hall really dropped the ball here. He let his…

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Gardenhire and White Broaden Scope of In-State Tuition Bill to Cover More Illegal Immigrant Students, Including ‘Unaccompanied Alien Children’

Chris Alto

State Sen. Todd Gardenhire (R-Chattanooga) and State Rep. Mark White (R-Chattanooga) have broadened the scope of the 2017 version of the in-state tuition for illegal immigrant students bill they have introduced to the current session of the Tennessee General Assembly. The 2015  Gardenhire/White bill that would have given in-state tuition to illegal immigrant students was restricted to grantees of Obama’s 2012 Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program. The 2017 version of the bill now applies to illegal immigrant students classified in the “Unaccompanied Alien Child” (UAC) category of immigration status. In his much publicized radio meltdown with WWTN’s Ralph Bristol on Friday, Sen. Gardenhire described an illegal immigrant his bill would provide in-state tuition benefits to as “somebody that’s got a 4.0 average, was the valedictorian of their class.” But some UACs who would potentially be eligible for these taxpayer funded tuition breaks are not exactly the model citizens Gardenhire described. In 2013, sixteen year old Edwin Mejia, a UAC from Honduras, was transported to Tennessee and released into the custody of his brother, an illegal immigrant living north of Nashville in Madison, Tennessee. The following year the two brothers moved to Nebraska where Edwin struck and killed 21-year old…

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Senate Education Committee Approves State Benefit for Illegal Immigrant Students; Silent on Protecting Students in School Bathrooms

Chris Alto
Tennessee Star

  When the Senate Education Committee last week passed SB1014, Sen. Todd Gardenhire’s bill to make illegal immigrant students living in Tennessee, eligible for in-state college tuition and at the same time,  they not only voted to violate the Tennessee  “Eligibility Verification for Entitlements Act,” they also turned their back on vulnerable students who need protection from predators in school bathrooms. SB1014 passed in the committee on a 7 to 2 vote. Sen. Todd Gardenhire (R-Chattanooga), the bill’s sponsor, Sen. Jim Tracy (R-Shelbyville), Sen. Dolores Gresham (R-Somerville), Sen. Reginald Tate (D-Memphis),  Sen.  Rusty Crowe (R-Johnson City), Sen. Steve Dickerson (R-Nashville), and Sen. Ferrell Haile (R-Gallatin) all voted yes to give illegal immigrant students in-state-tuition and violate existing Tennessee state law. Sen. Joey Hensley (R- Hohenwald) and Sen. Brian Kelsey (R-Germantown) voted no. During that same committee meeting, after Chairman Dolores Gresham announced “seeing no motion” to hear SB771, Sen. Beavers’ bill designed to protect the privacy of K-12 students in Tennessee, Chairman Gresham gaveled down the bill and dismissed Sen. Beavers.  This meant that Sen. Beavers was not given an opportunity to explain her bill nor was the committee able to debate its merits, a confusing outcome to say the least since the same committee members…

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Legislators Who Give In-State Tuition to Illegal Immigrant Students Are Voting to Violate State Law

Chris Alto
Tennessee Star

Last week when the state’s Senate Education Committee voted to give in-state college tuition to illegal immigrant students, the seven committee members that passed SB1014 also voted to violate a 2012 Tennessee law. By voting to pass SB1014, Senators Gresham, Tate, and Tracy voted against the “Eligibility Verification for Entitlements Act” (EVEA), the law they had each voted to pass in 2012. Bill sponsor Sen. Todd Gardenhire (R-Chattanooga) and Senators Crowe, Dickerson, and Haile also voted yes. Senators Hensley and Kelsey voted no. Sen. Jim Tracy (R-Shelbyville) was a named co-sponsor of the EVEA. The 2012 EVEA, which the  TN Board of Regents’ General Counsel confirmed last week, classifies in-state tuition is a state benefit. The EVEA requires that: “…every state governmental entity and local health department shall verify that each applicant eighteen (18) years of age or older, who applies for a federal, state or local public benefit from the entity or local health department, is a United States citizen or lawfully present in the United States in the manner provided in this chapter.” Only U.S. citizens and “qualified aliens” are considered eligible to apply for benefits under this Tennessee law which defines “qualified alien” by referencing federal law.…

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Haslam’s ‘Drive to 55’ Used to Give In-State Tuition to Illegal Immigrant Students

Chris Alto

During this week’s sessions in a House Education Subcommittee and the Senate Education Committee, Governor Haslam’s education agenda “Drive to 55” was the reason given for needing to pass bills that make illegal immigrant students in Tennessee eligible for in-state college tuition. “Drive to 55″ refers to Haslam’s higher education reform umbrella that includes the TN Promise, LEAP,  TN Reconnect and TN Advise” programs which are each intended to “increase the number of Tennesseans with a postsecondary degree or credential to 55 percent by the year 2025.” Tennessee Star previously reported that Rep. White and Sen. Todd Gardenhire were carrying two sets of bills (SB104/HB863 and SB635/HB660), that if passed, would make in-state college tuition rates available to illegal immigrant students. On Tuesday, Rep. Mark White’s bill, HB660 which would authorize the new college and university governing boards to decide which students are eligible to pay in-state tuition rates was taken up by the House Education Administration & Planning Subcommittee. Almost immediately, Rep. Harry Brooks asked White whether he “intended this bill to create a mechanism for folks who are illegally in the country” to get in-state tuition? White admitted “that is where this thought came from.” He also admitted that…

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Outraged Vanderbilt Students Demand Wendy’s Ouster in ‘Boot the Braids’ Protest

Christina Botteri
Tennessee Star

Vanderbilt students, outraged by purported unfair farm worker labor practices took some time to take a walk outside to get some fresh air protested forcefully against fast-food giant, Wendy’s. Nashville’s News Channel 5 reports: Vanderbilt students hit the streets to demand the school cut ties with the fast food chain Wendy’s. The group, which also included Nashville residents, marched from Vanderbilt’s campus to the Wendy’s location on West End. The event was organized by the group “Nashville Fair Food.” The march was part of the “Boot the Braids” campaign led by students at universities across the country. Their parents must be so proud.

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Nashville Democrat State Rep. Brenda Gilmore Opposed Illegal Immigration Ten Years Ago

Chris Alto
Tennessee Star

Prior to being elected as a Democrat to represent Davidson County’s 54th district in the Tennessee General Assembly, State Rep. Brenda Gilmore (D-Nashville) served on the Metro Council of Nashville and Davidson County from 1999-2007. During her last year serving on the Metro Council, Gilmore sponsored Resolution No.RS2007-1753, “A Resolution requesting Senator Lamar Alexander, Senator Bob Corker and the Davidson County Congressional Delegation to introduce and support comprehensive legislation to address illegal immigration issues.” Gilmore cited the following concerns justifying her resolution: “WHEREAS, due to its abundance of construction-related jobs, the Nashville area has become a magnet for illegal immigrants in recent years; and WHEREAS, the rising cost of providing government services to illegal immigrants is having a tremendous negative impact on our state and local government; and WHEREAS, as a result of the increasing number of criminal offenders arrested in Nashville that are undocumented aliens, Davidson County Sheriff Daron Hall recently gained approval from the federal government for Nashville’s participation in the 287(g) program, which will provide enhanced communication and cooperation between federal immigration authorities and local law enforcement to help identify and initiate deportation proceedings on criminal illegal immigrants; and WHEREAS, recent polls have documented the public’s frustration…

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