Live from Music Row Tuesday morning on The Tennessee Star Report with Michael Patrick Leahy – broadcast on Nashville’s Talk Radio 98.3 and 1510 WLAC weekdays from 5:00 a.m. to 8:00 a.m. – Leahy was joined in the studio during the program’s second hour by Senator Kerry Roberts of Tennessee.
In the third segment, Roberts gave his take on the situation facing Tennesseans with regard to Gov. Lee’s recent refugee resettlement decision. He admitted that people in the General Assembly were unhappy with not being consulted and was concerned that the pending lawsuit would be undermined.
Leahy: We welcome to our microphones’ state Senator Kerry Roberts. Good morning Kerry.
Roberts: Good morning. How are you doing this morning?
Leahy: And also with us is Don Barnett. A fellow at the Center for Immigration Studies. Good morning Don.
Barnett: Good morning.
Leahy: A great half-hour where Don elaborated in some detail about the refugee resettlement issue here in Tennessee. Well Kerry Senator Roberts, today the Tennessee General Assembly is back in session.
Roberts: You know it’s amazing how people think and all the time people say, “Hey how are things going in Washington.” (Chuckles) They do. They think we go to Washington.
Leahy: Some people do.
Roberts: Some people do.
Leahy: But not our listeners. Our listeners are educated.
Roberts: Our listeners are educated and informed. So we limit the amount of damage we can do.
Leahy: See this is a very good point. Self-awareness on the part of state Senator Kerry Roberts. I always say, when Congress is in session or the state legislature is in session, hide the children! I’m borrowing from Mark Twain on that.
Roberts: Anytime you borrow from Mark Twain or Will Rogers there’s a whole list of people you could borrow from and is pretty darn good. Nowadays Millennials don’t have any idea of what you’re talking about. So you could just claim it as the original.
Leahy: I suppose I could but that would not be honest. We’re nothing but honest.
Barnett: They are removing Mark Twain from the shelves, aren’t they? I heard Laura Ingles Wilder too.
Roberts: It’s pretty safe to say that every one of those people were homophobic, transphobic, (Leahy laughs) they just didn’t know what those words were yet, but we’re guilty of them all. So purge the shelves and burn the books.
Leahy: They were guilty of just being born here as Americans. So the big news, we’ll get to the refugee issue and the governor, in my view…
Roberts: I was kind of hoping you’d have that solved before I got on the air.
Leahy: We almost did Don.
Barnett: Well the counties definitely have a right to say no.
Roberts: That’s really kind of a big issue. We could have 90 counties across Tennessee all push back but if you don’t have Davidson, Memphis, Knoxville, and Chattanooga.
Leahy: Shelby’s already said bring them on.
Roberts: Yeah. With your radius that you have and everything, if you live in one of these halo counties…
Barnett: Right.
Roberts: Your county commissioner could pass a resolution. I don’t know that it would do any good with the way the radius works.
Leahy: Well yeah. And I think that’s part of the problem. I don’t think Gov. Lee really thought about that. And if she did he didn’t care about the counties.
Roberts: And I know you said you wanted to get into it later…
Leahy: No we can get into it right now. Bring it on Senator Roberts!
Roberts: I think what you need to look at here is the difference between, and this is thinking that I’m going to say is assuming that Donald Trump gets what he wants. Which generally is a safe assumption.
Leahy: A safe assumption.
Roberts: But this is an area where he has not succeeded traditionally in what he wants thus far. He’s really struggled.
Leahy: Which area are you talking about?
Roberts: Immigration.
Leahy: Well, let me push back a little bit on that.
Roberts: Partial.
Barnett: Overall in the big picture right, I would say he’s very much struggling. We’ve had a million people come across the border and most of them were able to apply for asylum. Most of them are still here. And in six months they’ll get social security numbers and can work.
Leahy: And get benefits from taxpayers.
(Inaudible crosstalk)
Roberts: Wait wait wait. I thought they didn’t cost us anything. Isn’t that what they said? I heard testimony. (Laughs)
Barnett: If they get asylum. But it might take a year or two years to even have their case come to court. If they receive asylum from the immigration court then yes, they get the full panoply of benefits.
Leahy: The full panoply.
Roberts: We’re going to have to look that up. There are some liberals that are going to have to look that up.
Barnett: Most of them will not receive asylum. They will be rejected. But most of them will not even show up for court, and they’ll get social security numbers. The point is they are in the country and they’ll get social security numbers and they will be able to work.
Roberts: But the refugees are a separate issue. People don’t realize is we talk about a refugee program. This is just kind of one drop in the proverbial bucket of people who come into the United States.
Leahy: It’s one part. Barnett was talking about that.
Roberts: There are multiple programs that people aren’t aware of.
Leahy: This year legally there will be only 18,000 refugees under this program that Governor Bill Lee loves and just said yes to. But overall there’s like 200,000 various programs. But I want to talk a little bit Senator Roberts.
Roberts: Call me Kerry, please.
Leahy: Kerry.
Roberts: Let’s go ahead and do all that right now. When I’m on the radio, I’m Kerry.
Leahy: Your Kerry. Ok.
Roberts: I’m Kerry anyway. I get called Senator Kerry a lot.
Leahy: Senator Kerry. No no. We can’t do that.
Roberts: I think it’s kind of a southern thing.
Leahy: So here’s the thing. The Tennessee General Assembly in 2016…
Roberts: Right.
Leahy: Passed a resolution saying we’re going to file a lawsuit in federal court against the federal government because they are resettling refugees here without our consent. And we’re being stuck paying all of the social welfare benefits without our consent. It’s sort of taking of 10th amendment article.
Roberts: Anti commandeering right.
Leahy: So that lawsuit is going through the courts. They had an issue of standing because the previous governor would not sign on to it. So here comes Gov. Bill Lee with this opportunity to either say yes or no to refugees because of the executive order.
And then on December 18 without consulting with anybody in the Tennessee General Assembly or any county government as far as I can tell, he says, bring them all in. How does that sit with the Tennessee General Assembly which you are a member?
Roberts: Well, I can only speak for myself. I do have a sense of listening to colleagues. People are upset about it. I think the first concern was it would undermine the lawsuit.
Leahy: Wait. Just a minute.
Barnett: I think it could. I don’t think it’s clear yet because he said that he wants the lawsuit to proceed. But if you’ve already said you want to take them in as the executive than how can you take a lawsuit?
Leahy: Let me just interject a moment. Give me a break. Give me a break. If you are a judge and the issue is standing and you’re not sure if the Tennessee General Assembly has enough standing and the issue has been, oh the previous governor didn’t sign off. And then the new governor says oh yeah, bring them on in. My view is that any judge is going to say bye-bye to that lawsuit. Don?
Barnett: But the General Assembly appropriates taxpayer dollars to pay for benefits and services. So it would seem like they certainly do have standing even more so than the executive.
Leahy: Tell that to the judge in this case.
Roberts: I don’t think we’ve had very friendly judges in …
Leahy: Not in that case.
Roberts: So when you look at the path it has to weed through. My personal opinion is I obviously disagree with that. I do think it hurts our lawsuit. I think that probably if you sat down and talked to the governor and I’ve not even begun to put words in his mouth.
And I will say he’s a friend of mine and I’m very fond of him. I think he’s looking at a program prospectively instead of historically. If you talk to him about his beliefs and the things he’s passionate about, he is definitely about helping people who are persecuted in the Middle East and that would be the Christians he’s worked within the Middle East.
Leahy: and he can do it out of his own pocket.
Listen to the second hour:
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Tune in weekdays from 5:00 – 8:00 am to the Tennessee Star Report with Michael Patrick Leahy on Talk Radio 98.3 FM WLAC 1510. Listen online at iHeart Radio.
Gov. Lee should be ashamed of himself.