Tennessee Muslim Advisory Council Co-Founder Endorsed Islamic Proselytizing Organization

Sabina Mohyuddin, long-time volunteer and former Youth Director at the Islamic Center of Nashville (ICN), co-founder of the Tennessee American Muslim Advisory Council (AMAC), and a featured panelist at a recent event held at the University of the South in Sewanee, endorsed the Islamic Circle of North America (ICNA), a U.S. based leader in dawah (Islamic proselytizing), at a 2013 event as an organization that “help[s] American Muslims stay true to their religious values while being uniquely American.” ICNA was named in a 1991 Muslim Brotherhood document, An Explanatory Memorandum on the General Strategic Goal for the Group in North America as one of the Brotherhood’s 29 likeminded “organizations of our friends” that shared the common goal of destroying America from within and turning it into a Muslim nation “so that … God’s religion [Islam] is made victorious over all other religions.” ICNA is also the organization that admits public school students should be targeted for dawah conducted under the guise of “sharing knowledge of Islam as an attempt to correct the misrepresentations often found in secular reading materials.” Mohyuddin offered the ICNA endorsement during her slide presentation Understanding the American Muslim Community, which was part of a 2013 AMAC sponsored forum in Manchester,…

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Students in Tennessee And Across the Country Are Targeted By Proselytizers of Islam Claiming to Address ‘Misconceptions’

Last month, students from Nashville’s Meigs Middle Magnet School received a presentation about Islam during a field trip to the Islamic Center of Nashville (ICN). The mosque’s Director of Operations, Dina Sirois, told the students that they would “talk about beliefs and practices in Islam” and that “another little piece of your brain that has some new little storage compartment” would get “filled with Islam stuff.” Anna Shepherd, Chairman of the Metro Nashville School Board, defended the ICN presentation  when questioned by The Tennessee Star, saying that “[Sirois] was addressing any misconceptions the students/parents might have had in the context of the [social studies] standards.” U.S.-based Islamist organizations proselytize Islam to public school students through presentations alleged to “correct misconceptions,” “supplement the curriculum in the context of social studies standards” or “correct inadequate and biased” teaching resources. Rashed Fakhruddin, president of the ICN is also a founding member of the Tennessee American Muslim Advisory Council (AMAC),  which in 2012 became a formal affiliate of the Islamic Networks Group (ING) and established an Islamic speaker’s bureau with training using ING’s prepared presentations. ING claims that its outreach to middle and high schools will correct “inadequate and biased” teaching resources, supplement the curriculum in the context of the standards…

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Islamic Center of Tennessee Imam Preaches Against ‘Enemies of Allah’

In July, Imam AhmedulHadi Sharif told his followers at the Islamic Center of Tennessee (ICT) that if the Muslim ummah loses the struggle over the al Aqsa mosque, the “enemies of Allah would come and try to destroy the ka’aba” (at 22:43 in the video below). According to Muslims, the ka’aba is the building at Mecca that houses a sacred black stone. Sharif’s sermon about Muslims’ claim to the al Aqsa mosque was given during the conflict surrounding the mosque after two Israeli police officers were killed by three Israeli Arabs who had smuggled weapons into the mosque. Subsequent security measures of metal detectors and security cameras undertaken by the Israeli government were ultimately withdrawn after Palestinians led violent protests and a terrorist killed three Israeli civilians during their Sabbath meal. In his sermon, Sharif tries to differentiate between what he calls “ethnic” Jews and Zionist oppressors who he calls “the number one terrorists in the world,” but nonetheless, incites hatred against Jews who believe that Israel is the Jewish homeland saying: We do not hate the ethnic Jewish rather we do hate the oppressors of this Zionist because the Prophets of Allah some of them were from Bani Isra’il so…

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Chairman of Metro Nashville School Board Defends Mosque Speaker Giving Students Misleading Information

On October 17th, students from Metro Nashville Meigs Middle Magnet School visited the Islamic Center of Nashville (ICN) where Dina Sirois, the mosque’s operations director, told them that they would “talk about beliefs and practices in Islam.” The Tennessee Star contacted Ms. Anna Shepherd, Chairman of the Metro Nashville School Board about the audio recording of the presentation given to the students, and asked the following questions: how to find a copy or link to the MNPS policy that complies with the [2016] Tennessee law [regarding inclusion of religion in local curriculum] and whether public notice and comment related to the adoption of the Metro policy was provided as required by the state law how to access information required by part (c) of the state law [a complete syllabus that includes information regarding major assignments and field trips] confirmation as to whether MNPS considers that the provisions in the [state law] also apply to guest speakers on and off school grounds during field trips Ms. Shepherd responded as follows, explaining: Please see the policies below in regard to religious education. I hope these are helpful. Sixth and seventh grade students study a number of religions as part of state’s approved Social Studies Standards. Sixth grade concentrates…

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Textbook Shows Islamic Center of Nashville Speaker Was Misleading to Public School Students About Islam

The presentation to students from Metro Nashville Meigs Middle Magnet School at the Islamic Center of Nashville (ICN) on October 17th was misleading when compared to corresponding information in a popular Islamic school textbook. ICN’s Director of Operations Dina Sirois claimed that her talk to the students was not about “trying to win you over,” presumably a disclaimer of proselytizing Islam to the students which would otherwise violate federal and state law. However, her comparisons between Islam, Christianity and Judaism, especially when considered in light of her incomplete explanations on topics such as the resurrection of Jesus and jihad, suggests that her talk was more in line with the Islamic mandate of dawa and designed to be “the seeds of Islam [that] can be sowed inside the hearts of non-Muslim students.” But a school textbook included in a video about Annoor Academy, a private Islamic school in Knoxville, shows that Sirois’s explanation of Muslims’ belief in the resurrection of Jesus is incomplete making it appear the intention was to have students think that Christian and Muslim beliefs are more alike than different. A 2013 promo YouTube video for Annoor Academy shows a row of textbooks titled What Islam Is All About. (See at the 1:04…

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Metro Nashville Students Visit Local Mosque for Religious Instruction

On October 17th, students from Metro Nashville Meigs Middle Magnet School visited the Islamic Center of Nashville (ICN) where Dina Sirois, operations director of the mosque, told them that they would “talk about beliefs and practices in Islam.” An audio recording of Sirois’ presentation was forwarded to The Tennessee Star. Using a set of prepared slides, Sirois alternated between talking about Islamic religious doctrine and posing comparisons of Islam to Judaism and Christianity. She opened her talk telling the students that: We’re all on a learning journey and on a faith journey and today’s talk is to expand your critical thinking skills. We’re not trying to win you over. We’re trying to give you information so you can leave here today with yet another little piece of your brain that has some new little storage compartment that has been filled with Islam stuff and then you take that on with your life and your faith journey and then you keep adding more and more aspects from different faiths and different cultures until you make your final decision as to what kind of person you want to be when you grow up. Sirois described how she came from a “mixed family”: So I call…

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Senator Bob Corker Has Plenty of Evidence to Support President Trump’s Reduction in the Refugee Ceiling for FY 2018

Senator Bob Corker (R-TN) has plenty of evidence to support President Trump’s presidential determination to reduce the refugee ceiling in FY  2018 to 45,000, but, so far, the soon-to-retire senator has been silent on that matter since that news broke late last month. In April, however, PJ Media reported, “Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Bob Corker (R-Tenn.) said he hopes the Trump administration begins to ‘move back to a regular process’ and ‘normalize’ the admission of refugees into the United States.” Corker should know the pitfalls of “normalizing” the admissions of refugees to higher levels of the Obama administration. He was a sitting member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee when it convened a hearing in 2010, to address the failures of the U.S. refugee resettlement program and he learned a great deal about the serious problems of the program back then. The committee’s report, Abandoned Upon Arrival: Implications for Refugees and Local Communities Burdened by a U.S. Resettlement System That is Not Working, offers ample, if not overwhelming justification for Corker, now chairman of the committee, to support President Trump’s responsible FY 2018 cap for U.S refugee admissions at 45,000 annually, significantly lower than the 85,000 admissions in FY 2016, the…

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Memphis Imam Raises Money For Islamic Charity U.S. Congressman Says Has Ties to Muslim Brotherhood

Last week, Rep. Ron DeSantis (R-FL), a member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, introduced an amendment to the State and Foreign Operations Appropriations Act blocking any U.S. funding to Islamic Relief Worldwide (IRW). Between 2015 and 2016, IRW received $370,000 in federal funding. DeSantis explained to the Free Beacon that: U.S. tax dollars cannot go to groups involved in funding terrorism. Any group tied to Hamas or the Muslim Brotherhood should be ineligible for funding.  It is a slap in the face of the American taxpayer to allow such groups to receive federal funding. Founded in 1984, IRW is headquartered in the UK but operates as a franchiser of sixteen charity affiliates comprising the largest Islamic charity in the West with revenues in the hundreds of millions. Islamic Relief USA (IRUSA), reputed to be one of the largest affiliate funders of IRW, is also inter-connected to IRW through leadership. For example, IRUSA’s former CEO, Abed Ayoub also served on the governance committee of the IRW. Between 2012 and 2016, Memphis Imam Yasir Qadhi has been helping IRUSA raise money speaking at a dozen fundraising events. More recently, he undertook an eight-date tour in the UK to raise money for the parent organization IRW. Britain’s Charity Commission which…

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Tennessee State Legislators Caved to Leftists on ‘Soft Amnesty’ Instead of Upholding Constitution

Tennessee Star

  Sixteen Republicans in the State Senate and twenty-seven in the House caved to the demands of the TN Immigrant & Refugee Rights Coalition (TIRRC) when they voted to give in-state tuition to illegal aliens with deferred deportation under DACA, or who might become eligible for DACA. DACA does not alter a grantee’s illegal immigration status. Ignoring the illegal immigration issue and offering a “soft amnesty” to DACA illegal aliens, the forty-three Republicans voting “aye” for the Gardenhire/White 2015 in-state tuition bill, also voted to violate federal and Tennessee law. These lawmakers also ignored the fact that Obama’s DACA policy was neither a statutory nor Constitutional exercise of executive authority. Republican Senators voting for the 2015 in-state tuition bill:  Janice Bowling, Richard Briggs, Rusty Crowe, Steve Dickerson, Todd Gardenhire, Mark Green, Dolores Gresham, Ferrell Haile, Ed Jackson, Brian Kelsey, Becky Duncan-Massey, Randy McNally, Frank Niceley, Doug Overbey, Steve Southerland, Lt. Gov. Ron Ramsey. Republican House members voting for in-state tuition: Harry Brooks, Kevin Brooks, Kent Calfee, Dale Carr, Mike Carter, Bill Dunn, Jimmy Eldridge, Andrew Farmer, Marc Gravitt, Mike Harrison, Ryan Haynes, Patsy Hazlewood, Bud Hulsey, Curtis Johnson, Sabi Kumar, Pat Marsh, Gerald McCormick, Steve McDaniel, Steve McManus, Bob Ramsey,…

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Tennesseee Attorney General Wants Congress to Grant Amnesty and Legitimize Unconstitutional Action by Obama Administration

Tennessee Star

  Tennessee’s Attorney General Herbert Slatery, III, by letter dated September 1, 2017, informed Sens. Alexander and Corker that he is willing to forgo upholding the Constitution and the rule of law in favor of supporting Obama’s unilateral action that established the 2012 DACA (Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals) program. Slatery has elected to leave the coalition of ten state Attorneys General and the Governor of Idaho, which in a June 29, 2017 letter to U.S. Attorney Jeff Sessions, requested a phase out of the 2012 DACA program because there was no statutory authority for the executive branch to unilaterally confer lawful presence and work authorization on illegal aliens. It was estimated that the 2012 DACA extended to over one million illegal aliens. The Attorneys General also requested that the memorandum and order establishing DACA be rescinded and that no new DACA permits or renewals be issued. The administration was also put on notice that the AG coalition would sue if the requested actions regarding DACA were not undertaken by September 5, 2017: This request does not require the Executive Branch to immediately rescind DACA or Expanded DACA permits that have already been issued. This request does not require the Secretary to alter the…

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Tennessee American Muslim Advisory Council Board Member Says Constitution is Document of White Supremacy

Tennessee’s American Muslim Advisory Council (AMAC) board member Drost Kokoye says the U.S. Constitution “is a document that writes white supremacy into law.” Those were the exact words Kokoye used in a tweet sent from her Twitter account on September 17, 2014–the 227th anniversary of the signing of the Constitution at the close of the Constitutional Convention on September 17, 1787: #ConstitutionDay to celebrate a document that writes white supremacy into law. — so many consonants (@foreverafugee) September 17, 2014 Kokoye is a Kurdish refugee who, as a young child, came to live in Nashville, grew up there and was educated in Nashville’s public schools. While attending college at Middle Tennessee State University, she worked for the TN Immigrant & Refugee Rights Coalition (TIRRC) as a “Multicultural Organizer.” TIRRC offers workshops encouraging immigrants to become citizens and assists them through the naturalization process, after which TIRRC says they can represent “the immigrant vote” in elections. In 2012, Kokoye was featured in TIRRC’s “New American Voter” campaign: Voting gives me the opportunity to voice what not every immigrant or refugee can yet. It’s my chance to choose the people and laws that will allow others to practice this freedom I now have.…

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Knoxville Monument Protest Ends Without Violence

The Confederate monument protest in Knoxville Saturday ended without violence, police said. The Knoxville Police Department (KPD) tweeted Saturday that the demonstration in Fort Sanders was “peaceful and successful.” The protest was held against a monument in the historic neighborhood that honors fallen Confederate soldiers from the Battle of Fort Sanders on Nov. 29, 1863. WATE reported the city had shut down a portion of 17th Street to vehicles. Earlier in the day, the KPD tweeted that guns, knives and face coverings would not be permitted. Police also reported handing out water to protestors. Petitions were posted online last week calling both for the removal and the preservation of the monument, WATE reported. The monument was vandalized and then cleaned up. WBIR reported about 300 people gathered near the monument. Most protested the structure, while a few showed support. Some chanted “not in Knoxville,” while one woman displayed a sign reading “defend our monument.” The KPD tweeted that the drivers of dozens of cars that towed from the protest area would not have to pay. The department tweeted the name and number of the city impound lot. Democratic Knoxville Mayor Madeline Rogero tweeted “Thank you @knoxsheriff, @TNHighwayPatrol, @OakRidgePolice, @TBInvestigation, @KnoxvilleFire, @UTPolice &…

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Anti-Israel UT Knoxville Alum Collaborates With Antifa

UT Knoxville alumnus Rev. Osagyefo Sekou credits antifa forces with whom he was “discussing tactics,” for “saving [his] life” while he was protesting in Charlottesville: Antifa saved my life. — Rev. Osagyefo Sekou (@RevSekou) August 15, 2017 It’s ironic that Sekou, an anti-Israel agitator who supports extreme anti-Israel groups like Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) and the U.S. Campaign to End the Occupation (CEO), would be demonstrating against Neo-Nazis in Charlottesville. The Anti-Defamation League lists both organizations among the top 10 most influential and active anti-Israel groups in the United States. The CEO is led by Yousef Munayyer, who as former director of the Jerusalem Fund openly advocated for the BDS (Boycott, Divestment & Sanction) campaign against Israel which has continued under the new director. The Jerusalem Fund’s board Chairman is Dr. Subhi Ali from Waverly, Tennessee. His daughter, Samar Ali served in the Haslam administration. The BDS campaign attacks Zionism and seeks to demonize, delegitimize and eliminate the State of Israel, to wit, the slogan “from the river to the sea, Palestine will be free,” used by BDS promoters to signal that if successful, there would be no Israel or Jews between the Jordan River and the Mediterranean. It is…

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‘Drive to 55’ Likely Gives ‘Tennessee Promise Scholarship’ to Illegal Immigrants in a Boyd Administration

Tennessee Star

Gubernatorial candidate Randy Boyd takes full credit for the “Drive to 55” higher education umbrella initiative which includes programs like the Tennessee Promise scholarship, but has made no definitive statement to date about whether illegal immigrants should be permitted access to this benefit or in-state college tuition. Boyd, however, is a named member of an organization that pushes state and local policymakers to support giving in-state tuition to illegal immigrant students and he has used his philanthropy to help expand an entrepreneurship program whose services are available to illegal aliens. He is also a board member of the “College Promise Campaign” which wants a universal and free entitlement for the first two years of a higher education. The board is led by the president of the leftist Joyce Foundation and honorary chair Dr. Jill Biden, wife of former Vice-President Joe Biden. A briefing book for state leaders posted on the College Promise website, Making Public Colleges Tuition Free, includes a reference to the “alternative application for undocumented students” used by two states for their college promise scholarships. Boyd also has six state legislators working to get him elected as governor, four of whom voted to give illegal immigrant students access to in-state college tuition.…

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Metro Nashville Schools Confirms Speaker From Mosque at Teacher In-Service, Refuses to Say If There Were Speakers From Other Religions

  Several days prior to releasing the story that Metro Nashville Public Schools’ (MNPS) social studies teacher in-service featured Rashed Fakhruddin from the Islamic Center of Nashville, Olivia Brown, the Director of Communications for MNPS was offered an opportunity to explain to The Tennessee Star, whether other speakers were invited or did speak to the teachers about other religions, but the question remains unanswered even though MNPS admits to having the information. Fakhruddin’s now deleted Facebook message about his talk at the in-service was posted for at least one week before The Star asked Ms. Brown who spoke at the social studies in-service. Her response was a generalized description of speakers and no mention of religious speakers: The Star: What was the agenda for the social studies in-service, who were the speakers and was it open only to teachers?  Which grades? Brown: Social Studies professional development was provided primarily to teachers in middle and high school as the majority of elementary teachers were participating in training for literacy and math. The first day started with a keynote addressing the purpose for social studies and how to address social studies practices. This was followed by a number of breakout session that teachers were able to choose from based on…

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Mayors of 44 Tennessee Counties Where President Trump Won Overwhelmingly Have Endorsed ‘Never-Trumper’ Randy Boyd for Governor

Tennessee Star

  Since launching earlier this year, Randy Boyd’s gubernatorial campaign has sent out numerous press releases announcing the names of county mayors who are supporting him for governor.  To date, 45 county mayors across Tennessee have endorsed Boyd. The state has 95 counties. In 44 of these 45 counties where Boyd has claimed the mayor’s support, President Trump won the vote overwhelmingly over Hillary Clinton in the November 2016 general election – with anywhere from 56.4 percent to 84.9 percent of the vote. (Shelby County is the lone exception) Here is the list of the 44 counties won convincingly by President Trump whose county mayors have pledged support to Boyd for Governor: Anderson, Bledsoe, Blount, Bradley, Carroll, Claiborne, Cocke, Decatur, Dyer, Fayette, Fentress, Franklin, Gibson, Greene, Hamblen, Hancock, Henry, Hickman, Humphreys, Jefferson, Johnson, Lake, Lawrence, Lewis, Lincoln, Loudon, Marshall, Monroe, Montgomery, Moore, Morgan, Obion, Overton, Pickett, Rhea, Roane, Scott, Sequatchie, Sevier, Unicoi, Union, Washington, Weakley, White. By supporting Boyd for governor, these county mayor are going against the voters on a key issue that put Trump in the White House, namely, illegal immigration. Boyd, who says he “aspire[s] to be like” failed presidential candidate Mitt Romney, aligned himself with “never-Trump”…

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Nashville Public Schools’ Social Studies In-Service Event for Teachers Featured Speaker From Islamic Center

  The president of the Islamic Center of Nashville (ICN) spoke about his religion during a Metro Nashville Public Schools’ (MNPS) social studies in-service event held on August 2nd for middle and high school teachers preparing for the start of the 2017-2018 academic school year. According to the ICN’s website, its president, Rashed Fakhruddin, “has been coordinating and providing presentations on Islam to universities, schools, leadership groups and churches” over the past fifteen years in an effort to influence how his religion is received in the wider community. In a Facebook post dated August 2 captured in a screen shot, the owner of an account identified as Rashed Fakhruddin said, “Today, I got to present during MNPS’s social studies in service on Islam in context to the social studies curriculum, ending the presentation with the question, ‘Is Islam compatible with the West?’. There were parallel sessions going on, but there was a great turnout!”   That post apparently is no longer available on Mr. Fakhruddin’s Facebook page. The Tennessee Star asked MNPS about this in-service presentation. “On August 2 and 3, MNPS facilitated district-wide Professional Development for teachers in all tiers (elementary, middle and high school) and in all grade…

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Conexion Americas Led Coalition, With Randy Boyd’s Non-Profit as a ‘State Partner,’ Says Students Here Illegally Deserve ‘Educational Equity’

  Conexion Americas, the convener and leading member of the Tennessee Educational Equity Coalition (TEEC), has issued a letter to Sens. Alexander and Corker asking them to continue Obama’s administrative bypass of Congress that unilaterally created the questionable DACA program. Gubernatorial candidate Randy Boyd’s education non-profit Complete Tennessee, on which Conexion Americas’ founder and executive director Renata Soto serves as a board member, is listed as a State Partner on the TEEC website. TEEC was established in March 2016. Complete Tennessee was established in September 2016, about the same time that Randy Boyd and his wife Jenny Boyd donated $250,000 to Conexion Americas. TEEC says that students who arrived in Tennessee in violation of U.S. immigration law deserve “educational equity:” As members of the Tennessee Educational Equity Coalition, we write you to express our support for the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program. The Tennessee Educational Equity Coalition is a diverse group of civil rights and education advocacy organizations whose goal is to build a shared advocacy agenda to address achievement and opportunity gaps for students across the state. We write you to respectfully request that you support the DACA program and that you urge President Trump to keep the DACA program intact until…

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Conexion Americas, Recipient of $250k From Randy Boyd, and TIRRC Are Defending Obama’s DACA Program for Illegal Aliens

Tennessee Star

  Conexion Americas and TIRRC (Tennessee Immigrant & Refugee Rights Coalition) are taking action this Friday to defend recipients of Obama’s unilateral 2012 Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program who are euphemistically referred to as “dreamers.” After the “Dream Act” failed in 2010, the Obama administration used an administrative bypass of Congress to execute unilateral executive amnesty in the form of the DACA program. On Friday, Conexion Americas, a Nashville Latino advocacy organization and recipient of a $250,000 donation from Randy and Jenny Boyd, is offering a popsicle to anyone who stops by and sends a postcard to Tennessee’s D.C. legislators requesting support for the newest “Dream Act.” Recently introduced by Republican Senator Lindsey Graham and Democrat Dick Durbin, the bill provides even greater protection for the DACA eligible by offering a path to citizenship. Boyd is one of five announced candidates for the Republican nomination for governor of Tennessee. Conexion is taking a subtle approach to undermine the rule of law and preserve an unconstitutional action by the Obama administration, whereas TIRRC’s approach is more direct – they are asking Tennessee teachers to take their politics into the classroom. TIRRC’s Friday “Educator Day of Action” in defense of DACA…

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Gubernatorial Candidates Beavers and Black Consistently Support Bills to Curb Illegal Immigration, But a Key Bill Sets Them Apart

Tennessee Star

  On the issue of illegal immigration, gubernatorial candidates Mae Beavers and Diane Black both consistently vote for bills intended to curb illegal immigration. However, in 2001, a Democrat controlled legislature passed HB983, a bill which allowed driver’s licenses to be issued to someone without a social security number enabling illegal aliens to obtain a Tennessee drivers license. It was estimated that more than 180,000 licenses were issued after the law was passed. Beavers voted against HB983 while Black voted for it. Black doesn’t deny voting for the bill, but explained it as “an unintended consequence of a bill that was supposed to allow legal immigrants to get licenses and co-sponsored legislation to repeal it.” Just months after Tennessee’s legislative session concluded, the 9/11 terrorist attack occurred and the question of easy access to state driver’s licenses was highlighted by the FBI raising the same question in state legislatures around the country, including Tennessee. This prompted a bill at the start of Tennessee’s next legislative session to fully repeal the illegal alien driver’s license bill. Even though the bill was not passed, both Beavers and Black signed on as co-sponsors and both voted for it. In 2004, the Tennessee General Assembly and the Governor’s office…

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Tennessee’s Republican U.S. Senators Lamar Alexander and Bob Corker Help Elevate Victim Status of Muslims Living in America

  On April 5, 2017, Senators Alexander and Corker joined in the unanimous consent of the Senate and “agreed to” S.Res. 118: A resolution condemning hate crime and any other form of racism, religious or ethnic bias, discrimination, incitement to violence, or animus targeting a minority in the United States. Because S.Res.118 was introduced as a “simple resolution,” considered a non-binding statement of the Senate, no roll call vote is required, the House does not vote on it, and it has no force of law although it remains to be seen whether a bill will follow later. According to the Muslim Public Affairs Council (MPAC), “[t]he drafting, introduction, and passage of this resolution [was] the result of a joint advocacy effort between MPAC and Emerge USA [a Muslim organization now renamed eMgage]. We ensured that the resolution went beyond rhetoric and resolves that the government take concrete steps to address hate crimes.” S.Res. 118 references acts of anti-Semitism, threats against Jewish institutions, anti-Black or anti-African American bias crimes, and “harassment and hate-based violence against individuals who are perceived to be Arab or Muslim, including members of South Asian communities in the United States, and Hindu and Sikh Americans” but reserves the opening and misleading statistic…

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State Rep. Bill Sanderson Led Defeat of Refugee Resettlement Bill in 2013, Backed Gas Tax Increase in 2017, Wants Voters to Support Him Again in 2018

Tennessee Star

  State Rep. Bill Sanderson, chairman of the House State Government Subcommittee passionately opposed a 2013 bill intended to quantify how much state revenue was forcibly being diverted by the federal government to pay for its refugee resettlement program. First elected to the General Assembly in 2011, Sanderson voted for the gas tax this year. Last week, gubernatorial candidate Speaker Beth Harwell (R-Nashville) announced that she is supporting Sanderson’s  bid to continue representing voters in his district at an event held in Kenton, Tennessee. After Governor Bredesen, a Democrat, had withdrawn Tennessee from the federal program in 2008, the U.S. Office of Refugee Resettlement chose Catholic Charities of Tennessee (CCTN) to continue the resettlement program for the state. The federal government also continued to rely on state revenue to support refugees resettled by the federal contractors in Tennessee. Testimony provided during debate on the 2013 bill cited a seventy-five percent increase in refugee arriving to Tennessee since CCTN took over the program even though the number of refugees arriving to the U.S. were declining. The bill still received enough votes to go to the full committee even with Sanderson abstaining from voting. In the full committee Sanderson spoke extensively against the bill after…

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Mayor Megan Barry’s ‘Office of Resilience’ Sells Globalists The Opportunity to Shape Nashville

  Nashville Mayor Megan Barry has officially tethered the city to the Rockefeller Foundation’s “100 Resilient Cities” (100RC) initiative. The globalist foundation provides direct funding for Barry’s new “Office of Resilience” chief resilience officer, Erik Cole. The Foundation’s team works with networked cities to plan for every eventuality ranging from natural disasters like floods and tornadoes to “slow-moving disasters like unemployment, affordable housing, and poverty and inequality – that are increasingly part of 21st century life.” According to a U.S. Conference of Mayors report, from 2015 to 2016, chronic homelessness in Nashville has increased by 9.8 percent, well above the national average and ranking Mayor Barry’s city as having the sixth largest jump among cities included in the report. Nashville also ranked a 43.2% increase in unsheltered homelessness during the same time period. Mayor Barry’s commitment to “meeting the goals of the Paris [climate] Agreement” aligns with the “City Resilience Framework” (CRF) and is supported by the president of 100 Resilient Cities and other 100RC city members. The CRF was developed by Arup, whose “independent firm of designers, planners, engineers, consultants and technical specialists” have assembled to “shape a better world.” The CRF is intended to identify a city’s “characteristics and capacity” to respond to the:…

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Partnership for a New American Economy Misstates Facts While Pushing to Keep DACA Program

  The New American Economy (NAE, aka, Partnership for a New American Economy), has sent out a “Code Red” alert trying to protect Obama’s amnesty-style DACA program which according to their count, has granted 800,000 illegal immigrants a temporary deferral from deportation. The NAE alert claims that DACA applicants “had to show that they were contributing to our country” even though this is not part of the criteria or considered by USCIS when deciding whether to grant DACA status. Putting that fact aside, NAE’s characterization of DACA applicants is in line with the economic narrative NAE uses to promote legal and illegal immigration: DREAMer program faces death sentence Here’s the harsh new reality: 800,000 DREAMers are now likely to lose their status and face deportation. Immigration advocates are calling this the “Code Red moment.” The warning first came down this week from the Secretary of Homeland Security to members of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus. Obama’s program allowing for DREAMer legal status will no longer be defended in court, a potential death sentence for the program that leaves every one of the 800,000 DREAMers potentially subject to deportation. The result could be the deportation of hundreds of thousands of our best-and-brightest young…

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Gubernatorial Candidate Randy Boyd’s GOP ‘Great Opportunity Party’ Likely to Include Illegal Aliens

Tennessee Star

  “As a member of the Republican Party and the GOP, I’ve always been a little concerned and also as a marketer, having a brand being the ‘Grand Old Party’ isn’t something that people necessarily aspire to, but I think the ‘Great Opportunity Party’ can stand for something,” gubernatorial candidate Randy Boyd told Knoxville radio host Jim Brogan during an on-air interview in May (beginning at the 42:50 mark in the interview). And when I think about opportunity I think about this opportunity for a better education. Wouldn’t it be great if people from around the country they think of Tennessee, they think yeah, that’s the land of opportunity. That’s where you go to get a great education. You can go to technical community college free even as an adult now as a result of this past legislation. It’s where you can go to get great jobs. They’ve got factories and companies all across the state willing to pay top dollar. It’s the place to go to get great jobs. And also it’s the place where you can go to rural communities and live a great quality of life because they’re not leaving people behind. It’s an opportunity, a state of opportunity…

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Metro Nashville Council Member Erica Gilmore Tells the State & Congress ‘We Make the Laws’

  In the last moments of Metro Council’s debate over the second reading of the now withdrawn sanctuary city ordinance before the June 20 vote, Nashville Council Member-at-Large Erica Gilmore, tried to assert non-existent local authority over illegal immigration, claiming “[w]e make the laws. We decide whether something is legal or not.” When the vote was held later that evening, Gilmore was among the 25 members of Metro Council who voted yes. Only 8 members of the Metro Council voted no. Had it not been for a vast grassroots uprising, an unfavorable legal opinion from Metro Legal Director, and a letter signed by more than 63 members of the Tennessee House of Representatives telling the Metro Council the Tennessee General Assembly would not let such an ordinance stand, the ordinance may have passed on a third reading. But the ordinances sponsors, Council Members Bob Mendes and Colby Sledge permanently withdrew the ordinance in light of the public backlash, and it never came to a vote on a third and final reading. But on the evening of June 20, Gilmore let her constituents know exactly where she stands on the issue. “I’m concerned when we have to talk about what’s American,…

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Commentary: Why Educators Leave the Profession

Learning Policy Institute identified inadequate preparation, lack of support, challenging working conditions, dissatisfaction with compensation, better career opportunities, and personal reasons for why teachers change careers. From our own internal surveys “high-stakes standardized testing” is the number one issue educators’ mention to us is why they are dissatisfied with the profession.

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Memphis Sheik Joins Islamist Linda Sarsour and CAIR Founder to Oppose Supreme Court Decision on Travel Ban

Memphis Sheik Yasir Qadhi joined Islamist activist Linda Sarsour and fellow activist and Hamas supporter Nihad Awad to collectively state their opposition to the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision upholding key parts of President Trump’s Executive Order (EO) while attending the Islamic Society of North America’s (ISNA) 54th annual convention in Chicago earlier this month. Their opposition to the ban was captured in this tweet: Government shouldn't be in the business of defining "bona fide relationships" & excluding grandparents, etc. Unacceptable. #NoMuslimBanEver pic.twitter.com/qrndrFwe7x — MPower Change (@MPower_Change) June 29, 2017 The temporary travel ban from Libya, Sudan, Somalia, Syria, Iran and Yemen remain in effect except for those refugees “who have a credible claim of a bona fide relationship with a person or entity in the United States” although they must still satisfy all security vetting. The EO’s limit of 50,000 refugee admissions for the current fiscal year was also upheld by the court. Iraq was dropped from the revised travel ban after it agreed to accept Iraqi deportees from the U.S. Sheik Qadhi is the resident scholar at the Memphis Islamic Center, Dean of Academic Affairs of AlMaghrib Institute and an “expert” with the Assembly of Muslim Jurists of America (AMJA). Linda Sarsour recently gained notoriety…

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Volunteer Group Will Help Grow Refugee Resettlement in Murfreesboro

  The refugee assistance organization “Murfreesboro Roots for Refugees”(MR4R) is busy providing services to refugees being resettled in Rutherford County. MR4R has taken over refugees abandoned in Murfreesboro by the World Relief resettlement agency. It was announced during the March MR4R meeting that they were assisting 17 families that totaled over 100 individuals including 65 kids and no longer restricting their assistance to Syrian refugees. The recent merger of Abdou Kattih’s “Home Away From Home” and Melissa Sohrabi’s “Roots for Refugees” now called MR4R, appears to be the the first organized refugee resettlement initiative in the county. During the March meeting, Kattih and Sohrabi discussed how they provided food, clothing and furniture needed by the arriving refugee families. They also detailed arranging to meet needed medical and dental services along with providing community orientation to newly arrived refugees. These are some of the same “core” services detailed in the Cooperative Agreement that federal refugee contractors sign and for which they are paid to provide. There are additional support services that are also provided with federal grants to “ethnic community based organizations (ECBO)” or  “mutual assistance associations (MAA).” Kattih is a Syrian who immigrated to the U.S. to join his parents in Chattanooga but then…

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OFF THE RECORD: ‘The Ballad of La Raza Randy’ Sorta Has That ‘Special’ Ring to It

  A clever and obviously talented follower of FACTS that have been reported about gubernatorial candidate Randy Boyd, penned this little ditty which arrived via The Tennessee Star tip line. After reading The Ballad of La Raza Randy, it’s only natural to wonder if and when the ode to “Mayor Moonbeam Megan Barry” will show up. In the meantime, see if you can make it all the way through to the end without having to wipe the tears rolling down your cheeks from laughing too hard… The Ballad of La Raza Randy Randy Boyd’s running all over the state, says he’ll spend whatever it takes. Money’s no object for this Governor who-would-be and his plan of “greater opportunity”. Greater opportunity for all citizens (or not), he’s the best friend illegals have got! He talks of education and jobs galore, all from a supporter of common core. Nothing we haven’t heard before, typical RINO campaign de jour. He’s Haslam 2.0, of that you can be sure! But Randy has a new name and it’s getting around! It’s sure to follow him from town to town! La Raza Randy is his new name , La Raza Randy, aren’t you ashamed? What is La Raza and for…

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Nashville Chamber of Commerce Brought Office of Refugee Resettlement’s ‘Building the New American Community’ to Music City Back in 2001

Tennessee Star

  With the Nashville Chamber of Commerce in a leading role, Nashville was one of three “non-traditional gateway cities” along with Portland (OR) and Lowell (MA) chosen for the 2001 pilot project funded by the U.S. Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR) called “Building the New American Community, A Collaborative Project on Integration (BNAC).”  These three sites were determined to be in the “beginning phases of a demographic transformation” due to increases in refugee resettlement and the arrival of legal and illegal immigrants. As explained in the project’s final report authored by the Soros funded Migration Policy Institute (MPI): Nashville exemplifies characteristics typically associated with new immigrant gateway cities in the United States: strong economic growth coupled with rapid foreign-born population increases from a very tiny base of refugees and immigrants who resided in the city in 1990. Core principles of the pilot project included building coalitions, refugee and immigrant leadership, and civic engagement, including: learning about the American electoral system and the importance of voting, but also participating as partners with public agencies in the coalitions. In practical terms, refugee and immigrant organizations played a direct role in crafting policies and programs that directly influence their communities as well as the receiving community.…

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Nashville Chamber of Commerce and Partnership for a New American Economy Helping to Spread Liberal Immigration Policies

The Nashville Chamber of Commerce and the Partnership for a New American Economy, now known as The New American Economy (NAE), are helping spread liberal immigration policies. That work will be on display here in the Music City this coming Sunday, July 16, when the Nashville Chamber of Commerce hosts the Association of Chamber of Commerce Executives (ACCE) annual convention. It was also on display in St. Louis in March, when “The New American Economy (NAE) and the Association of Chamber of Commerce Executives (ACCE) came to St. Louis on March 22-23, 2017 to learn from the St. Louis Regional Chamber,the St. Louis Mosaic Project, the International Institute of St. Louis, and Welcoming Economies Global Network (WE Global).” The St. Louis event in March launched a joint NAE and ACCE project to network chamber of commerce leaders to focus on “the imperative for state, local, and federal policies that promote immigrant integration as an economic growth strategy.” During the ACCE convention in Nashville on Sunday, the NAE will be hosting an event similar to the one held in St. Louis using the opportunity to share its brand of advocacy for comprehensive immigration reform which highlights the work ethic and perceived business ambitions of legal and illegal immigrants over native-born…

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La Raza Affiliate Conexion Americas Stands ‘Indivisible’ Against Trump

Despite trying to use hands-contorted-into-hearts to try and soften the radical opposition of the progressive left’s “Indivisible” campaign, Conexion Americas’ “Indivisible” organizing is no different than any of the other self-identified “Indivisible” groups that have formed to resist President Trump’s agenda for America. A number of left wing Nashville political figures, including Mayor Megan Barry, have posed for photos with Renata Soto, co-founder and director of Conexion Americas, displaying the “hands-contorted-into-hearts” sign. Last week, Conexion’s Gini Pupo-Walker, senior director of education policy and strategic growth, told The Tennessee Star that “[w]e didn’t know there would be other groups using the same word.” However, looking at Conexion’s twitter promotion of other “Indivisible”groups, the Indivisible Guide itself, and alignment by Conexion on key issues included in The Guide, strongly suggest otherwise. Conexion Americas director Soto has stated publicly that “[w]e at Conexion Americas have launched a campaign called #Indivisible” using a hashtag of a Twitter site which promotes the original Indivisible Guide and Indivisible groups scattered across the country. On December 10, 2016, Soto, issued a public invitation to join her Indivisible campaign. Four days later, a link to the Indivisible Guide, written by former Congressional staffers, was tweeted out. Angel Padilla an Indivisible Guide author, was an immigration policy consultant at National Council of La Raza (La Raza) in 2014. After leaving…

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Tennessee Data Shows LegaI & Illegal Immigrants Displacing Native -Born in Job Market

Unemployment line

  A 2017 analysis of labor force participation rates using the government’s Current Population Survey (CPS) data for Tennessee, shows that: immigrants (legal and illegal) accounted for all of the net increase in the number of working-age (16-65) people holding a job in Tennessee between the first quarter of 2007 and the first quarter of 2017 – even though the native-born accounted for 77 percent of growth among the total working-age population. Prior analysis indicates that 30 percent to 40 percent of immigrants in Tennessee are in the country illegally. Of the 229,000 immigrants in the state working, 70,000 to 90,000 are likely to be illegal immigrants. Not much has changed from when the article Who Got the Jobs in Tennessee?, was published by the Center for Immigration Studies in 2014: All of Tennessee’s employment growth since 2000 has gone to immigrants, yet natives accounted for two-thirds of population growth. Reference to “immigrants” in both the 2014 and updated 2017 analyses include both legal and illegal entrants. Both reviews used CPS survey data which is collected by the federal government and is considered “the nation’s primary source of information on the labor market.” This data measures the percentage of the population that is…

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La Raza Affiliate That Randy Boyd Gave $250,000 Is Holding Another Anti-Trump Event in Nashville

Tennessee Star

  Renata Soto, is the co-founder and director of Conexion Americas, a named partner affiliate of the National Council of La Raza (La Raza). In 2015, she was made Chairman of La Raza’s board and the following year, gubernatorial candidate Randy Boyd donated $250,000 to her Nashville organization. Shortly after Trump was elected President, Soto announced that she would begin organizing against the new administration by starting an “Indivisible” chapter in Nashville. “I invite you to join INDIVISIBLE, a campaign bringing together concerned Americans who commit to protect the promise of an indivisible nation that celebrates the roots and possibilities of all its people,” Soto wrote in a December 2016 op-ed published in The Tennessean. On Friday, Soto will hold another ‘Indivisible’ event at the Conexion Americas building Casa Azafran.  Among the activities promoted at the event, attendees of all ages are invited to “RAISE YOUR VOICE Write postcards to our legislators supporting the principles of an INDIVISIBLE community.” Nashville Mayor Megan Barry’s early support for the ‘Indivisible’ campaign is no surprise given her own left-wing open borders, pro-illegal immigrant political philosophy. https://twitter.com/MayorMeganBarry/status/822516452053942274 ‘Indivisible’ organizers are working to obstruct President Trump’s agenda for the nation including the enforcement of U.S. immigration laws. The Indivisible…

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Soros Open Borders Progressives Working to Turn ‘Welcoming Nashville’ into Safe Zone for Illegal Aliens

  This week, talking points on BL2017-739  were provided to Metro Nashville Council members so they could explain to constituents why they support an ordinance that would effectively convert Nashville’s “welcoming city” into a legally recognized sanctuary city. The talking points were written by Soros funded organizations that work to shield illegal aliens from deportation. Councilman Mina Johnson who is a co-sponsor of the ordinance says “[she] would like to call [the ordinance] “Nashville Together” or  the “Family Friendly City Bill” because it will: give immigrant families peace of mind that their families will not be separated so long as they continue to live their lives abiding by the law. This ordinance will make Nashville a truly warm and welcoming city and a safe place for all to live. The TN Immigrant & Refugee Rights Coalition (TIRRC) assisted in drafting the ordinance and along with the San Francisco – based Immigrant Legal Resource Center (ILRC), also helped draft the talking points being circulated by Metro Council members. Both TIRRC and the ILRC are recipients of funding from the George Soros Open Society Foundations and the Soros front group Neo Philanthropy. The Soros funded Open Society Foundations grants help support “organizations that promote open borders,…

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Metro Council Ordinance Will Protect Illegal Aliens Who Violate State Law by Driving Without a License

Metro Nashville Legal Director confirmed today that the proposed sanctuary city ordinance BL2017-739 cannot stop the sheriff from turning illegal aliens over to ICE after they’ve been arrested. However, for illegal aliens living in Nashville who open borders advocates claim are forced to break Tennessee’s driver licensing law, the ordinance could help keep them out of deportation proceedings. The proposed Metro Nashville ordinance prohibits the collection of immigration status information by any “department, board, commission, officer, or employee of the metropolitan government of Nashville and Davidson County, including law enforcement officers,” unless required by federal or state law or by court order. The Metro Nashville ordinance closely tracks Seattle’s municipal code prohibition currently being tested with the city suing to challenge the President’s Executive Order that takes on sanctuary cities. If no immigration status information is collected, then Metro Nashville will be in compliance with the federal law governing communication exchanges “regarding the citizenship or immigration status, lawful or unlawful, of any individual.” That is, unless the Tennessee General Assembly chooses to try and pass an Arizona type “show me your papers” law or simply bar local prohibitions on information collection as a way to ensure compliance with the “broader cooperative scheme between…

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OFF THE RECORD: Commenter Nails Gubernatorial Candidate ‘La Raza Randy’

Tennessee Star

  Tennessee Star readers are the bomb when it comes to creative, but fact-anchored monikers for Tennessee’s public figures. Yesterday’s story about gubernatorial candidate Randy Boyd and his quarter of a million dollar donation to a Nashville La Raza affiliate while still not dissing Metro Nashville for wanting to formally become the MOST LIBERAL SANCTUARY CITY IN THE U.S., seems to have inspired a Tennessee Star reader to comment on our story Monday, “Gubernatorial Candidate Randy Boyd Donated $250,000 to La Raza Affiliate And Has Not Renounced Nashville Sanctuary City Ordinance,” that “La Raza Randy . . . shows his real colors.” So now, “La Raza Randy” joins “Boss Doss” in our list of favorite fact-anchored monikers, because public figures aren’t entitled to be insulated from ridicule for the decisions they may ultimately wish they hadn’t made. The Tennessee Star is in the business of reporting FACTS. Unfortunately, we can’t help it if the FACTS show that when Boyd made his $250,000 donation, “the single largest individual gift” to the coffers of a named La Raza affiliate the founder and director of the Nashville organization was also already…. the Chairman of the Board of….La Raza! “La Raza Randy”? Sort of rolls off your tongue.  

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Partnership for a New American Economy Promotes Legal and Illegal Immigration in Nashville

  The Partnership for a New American Economy (PNAE) whose named members include gubernatorial candidates Randy Boyd and Karl Dean, awarded twenty cities “Gateways for Growth” (G4G) grants designed to “integrate immigrants as part of an economic growth strategy.” Openthebooks.com’s report Federal Funding of America’s Sanctuary Cities identifies half of the G4G grant recipients as sanctuary cities, including Nashville. The Tennessee Star asked the Randy Boyd campaign specifically for a comment on the Metro Nashville ordinance that would make Nashville a sanctuary city but has received no response. PNAE’s “15 key economic issues of immigration reform in America” include: Supporting legal status for the 11.4 million undocumented immigrants. In a 2014 Wall Street Journal oped, PNAE co-founder Rupert Murdoch said that illegal immigrants who are already here should be provided a path to citizenship. Supporting resettlement of refugees who PNAE says that after living in the U.S. between 16-25 years are earning well above the income of refugees who have been here for five years or less. Moreover, PNAE believes refugees are the answer to reviving aging and declining communities. Pushing state and local policymakers to support in-state college tuition for illegal immigrant students. The PNAE, now shortened to “New American Economy,” is a powerful and well-funded…

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Nashville’s ‘Sanctuary’ Ordinance Forces Local Law Enforcement to Violate Federal and State Law

Tennessee Star

The Mendes/Sledge Ordinance BL2017-739  that passed on second reading by twenty-five Metro Nashville Council members on Tuesday will, if passed on a final vote, force Davidson County and Nashville law enforcement personnel to violate federal and state laws. The sponsors’ other bill, BL2017-743 seeking to terminate a 1996 contract that reimburses the Davidson County jail when it detains criminal aliens for ICE pick-up, has been deferred to the Council’s August 1, 2017 meeting. Both bills are in line with Nashville Mayor Megan Barry’s left-wing open borders, pro-illegal immigrant political philosophy. BL2017-739 expressly prohibits the “use of any funds, resources or facilities” to assist ICE and also prohibits Davidson County and Nashville employees, including law enforcement, from providing pertinent information to ICE regarding criminal aliens. Federal law, however, specifically addresses these information exchanges: a Federal, State, or local government entity or official may not prohibit, or in any way restrict, any government entity or official from sending to, or receiving from, [federal immigration authorities] information regarding the citizenship or immigration status, lawful or unlawful, of any individual. The Mendes/Sledge bill attempts to circumvent this law by prohibiting the collection of immigration status information, possibly inviting the Tennessee General Assembly to pass a law…

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Metro Nashville Council Vote Moves City Closer to ‘Sanctuary’ Status

Twenty-five out of thirty-nine members present at Tuesday’s Metro Council meeting voted to pass the Mendes/Sledge ordinance forward to a third reading and final vote at the next regularly scheduled Council meeting. The ordinance will, in effect, turn Nashville into a “sanctuary city,” and set up an inevitable confrontation with both the state and federal government. It is also in line with the left-wing, open borders, pro-illegal immigrant political philosophy of Nashville Mayor Megan Barry, a Democrat. The vote was preceded by impassioned statements both pro and con; some more factually accurate than others.  Admissions were made that parents are not taking their children to be immunized, victims of domestic violence complaints are not coming forward and there is pervasive fear of interacting with law enforcement. Councilman Scott Davis claimed that downtown hotel cleaners aren’t getting paid because they’re told “you’re illegal. I don’t have to pay you.” The general theme running through supporters was this bill would make the city safer for everyone, “citizens or not,” phrasing used by Councilman Mendes to avoid the legally accurate term “illegal alien.” Mendes claimed that cities are allowed to “have choice” regarding how much they do over and above federal and state law and…

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Nashville Preparing to Become Most Liberal Sanctuary City in the U.S.

Tennessee Star

Two ordinances filed by Metro Councilmen Bob Mendes and Colby Sledge, drafted with the assistance of the TN Immigrant & Refugee Rights Coalition (TIRRC) and cheered on by Mayor Megan Barry, will make Davidson County and Metro Nashville the most liberal sanctuary city in the U.S.; in fact, even more liberal in its policies than New York City or San Francisco. The Metro Council may hold the second of the three required readings of one or both bills during its regularly scheduled meeting tonight. TIRRC, an affiliate of the National Council of La Raza and a recipient of funding from a George Soros front group, has been agitating for Nashville to formalize its informal sanctuary city practices since the election of President Trump. The two bills co-sponsored by Mendes and Sledge which will have their second reading tonight, will accomplish that goal. Trying to pass off the ordinances as “in line with state and federal law” the other Mendes/Sledge  bill if passed will, by prohibiting Metro Nashville employees from inquiring into anyone’s immigration status, effectively enable illegal aliens to access public benefits they would otherwise be barred from using. Using the ruse that it’s “bad policy and bad practice”for the Metro Council to…

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Catholic Charities of Tennessee Says It Is Not Responsible for Addressing Complaints World Relief Failed Murfreesboro Refugees, Despite Tearful Plea

Catholic Charities of Tennessee says it is not responsible for the failures of its subrecipient, World Relief, to provide basic services to newly arrived refugees in Murfreesboro. Those shortcomings were all too real for volunteer organizer Melissa Sohrabi, who started crying during a March meeting in Rutherford County while detailing federal resettlement contractor World Relief’s neglect and failure to provide essential survival services to the refugees they placed in Murfreesboro.   A third family “had nothing but a mattress and sheets, no blankets,” she told the audience that night (beginning at 2:02 in the YouTube video above): They didn’t know how to work the thermostat, they were freezing. They were scared and they were so relieved because Saffi knew their language. They had been there for several days with no contact with anyone. They did not know how to get in touch with their caseworker and with no language skills they didn’t know where to go or who to ask to even how to get help. We immediately took them to Greenhouse Ministries which is a great support system helping underprivileged people here in Murfreesboro and they graciously, with very few questions, gave them blankets and food and clothes and dishes…

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Bob Corker and Lamar Alexander Silent on Federal Contractor Failing to Provide Services to Refugees Dumped in Murfreesboro

Tennessee Star

The same day that The Tennessee Star discovered complaints publicized on YouTube by the refugee service volunteers in Murfreesboro made against refugee resettlement contractor World Relief for failing to provide basic and essential services, both Sens. Alexander and Corker’s offices were contacted for comment. Sen. Corker’s office never responded and while Sen. Alexander’s media contact asked for and was given additional time to look into the matter before responding, days later no comment was ever received. During the March “Murfreesboro Muslim Youth” (MMY) meeting soliciting help for refugees brought to Rutherford County by World Relief, refugee service organizer Melissa Sohrabi started crying while detailing the contractor’s neglect and failure to provide even basic survival services to the refugees they placed in Murfreesboro: [the third family] had nothing but a mattress and sheets, no blankets. They didn’t know how to work the thermostat, they were freezing. They were scared and they were so relieved because Saffi knew their language. They had been there for several days with no contact with anyone. They did not know how to get in touch with their caseworker and with no language skills they didn’t know where to go or who to ask to even how to get help. We immediately…

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Gardenhire Objects to Referring to Those He Calls ‘Undocumented Students’ As Illegal Immigrants

Tennessee Star

State Senator Todd Gardenhire (R-Chattanooga) has taken exception to The Tennessee Star’s polling question which accurately refers to foreign nationals of any age who have entered or been brought into the country without permission as “illegal immigrants.” Gardenhire prefers to use the left’s politically deceptive description of “children of undocumented immigrants who are brought to this country when they are very young.” “Illegal alien” is the term used in federal immigration statutes and is the term sanctioned by the U.S. Supreme Court in a 2012 immigration case. Open border leftist organizations such as the TN Immigrant & Refugee Rights Coalition (TIRRC) and La Raza, also use “undocumented immigrant” in an effort to “obscure the illegal actions and conduct of those who violate our immigration laws.” In 2014, after failing to move his in-state tuition bill out of committee, Gardenhire tried for a second time the following year. Working his 2015 bill to grant in-state college tuition to illegal alien students, he never used “illegal” anything, referring instead to the potential beneficiaries as, “certain students,” “best and brightest of this category,” “this segment of the population,” “these people,” “undocumented,” and “Tennessee high school graduates.” Rep. Mark White, sponsor of the companion House bills,…

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Property Owners in Tennessee Can Bypass Airbnb Restrictions and Place Refugees in Their Communities

Tennessee Star

  Airbnb, the online service that helps people “monetize their extra space” with short-term rental agreements, has launched a new platform called “Open Homes” that lets homeowners donate that “extra space” and host refugees, saving the federal contractors time and money in meeting the terms of their agreements with the U.S. State Department. By “donating” space in privately owned homes and apartments, any restrictions on use of private property imposed by local governments, can be by-passed. One hundred offers for hosting have already been offered in New York. Airbnb has set a goal “of providing short-term housing over the next five years for 100,000 people in need.” Regulations put in place by the Nashville Metro Council have attempted to curtail the use of privately owned property for short-term rental use, whereas the Memphis City Council opted to take the cash and charge “extra space” hosts the same taxes and fees paid by hotels. Chattanooga’s city government requires specific zoning for short-term rentals except in the unincorporated parts of Hamilton County where only a special permit is required. Knoxville property owners must also secure special permits to profit from short-term hosting. None of the local government ordinances appear to address the scenario…

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A Nashville Weekend That Will Live in Legend

Tennessee Star

  This weekend in Nashville, something happened that has never happened before. CMAFest, Bonnaroo and the Stanley Cup Final all occurred at the same time.  The first two were planned, but the final came as a little bit of a surprise. CMAFest started in 1972 at Nashville’s Municipal Auditorium and with 5000 fans attending 20 hours of country music.  Today, the CMA Music Festival encompasses four days of country music on 11 stages with over 150 acts performing with 100,000+ fans attending. Beginning musicians just starting out to the most famous who are selected to sing at Nissan Stadium are proud to be a part of this historic festival each year. Country favorites such as Miranda Lambert, Luke Bryan, Blake Shelton, Thomas Rhett, Florida-Georgia Line, Keith Urban and Brad Paisley were just few of the superstars to thrill fans nightly at the Nissan Stadium main event. Sixty-three miles southeast off I-24, the legendary rock event, Bonnaroo, was occurring at the exact same time as CMAFest.  Bonnaroo is also a four-day musical and arts event on a 700-acre farm in Manchester, Tennessee. Bonnaroo started in 2002 to immolate the feel of the 1960s and 1970s rock concerts like the original Woodstock.…

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