Officials in two Tennessee counties voted Monday night in favor of telling Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee, a Republican, they don’t want any refugees he might try to send their way.
Stewart County Mayor Robin Brandon told The Tennessee Star Tuesday he broke a tie vote in favor of a resolution that tells Lee no to more refugees.
In Tipton County, commissioners voted — unanimously — to instruct Lee on essentially the same thing, said County Mayor Jeff Huffman.
“At the end of the day the question is how many resources do you have to apply to the issue of impoverished people? We have limited resources,” Huffman said.
“You can take the stance that we need to help more poor people, but at the end of the day the bottom line is based on the resources you have, and they are very limited, particularly with local governments, that rely on property taxes. At the end of the day it’s a question of how many people can you help? We think it’s better to help support the people that are here rather than people likely to come here from a different country.”
Huffman said his constituents tell him their county has enough problems with people who either do not work or live off taxpayers.
“We don’t need more folks like that,” Huffman said.
“We need less.”
As The Star reported Monday, officials in two other counties — Wilson and Cannon — may eventually vote in favor of similar resolutions. As reported, Loudon County commissioners already have.
Cannon County Commissioner Jim Bush said he and his colleagues will consider a resolution in March.
Wilson County Commissioner Jerry McFarland, meanwhile, said members of the county’s Legislative Committee will take up the matter at their next meeting, although he did not give a date.
Elsewhere, Macon County Mayor Steve Jones said his county attorney is looking at a similar resolution.
In September, U.S. Republican President Donald Trump issued an executive order that enabled state and local governments to refuse resettling any more refugees in their states or localities.
Lee decided Tennessee will continue to take in refugees.
As reported, Lee cited his Christian faith as one of the reasons.
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Chris Butler is an investigative journalist at The Tennessee Star. Follow Chris on Facebook. Email tips to [email protected].
Photo “Robin Brandon” by Robin Brandon. Background Photo “Steward County Courthouse” by Geobeedude. CC BY-SA 3.0.
You don’t have to be the mayor of a town, and not one as large as Springfield to know that accepting (MORE) immigrants is trouble. I applaud Jeff Huffman and Van Shaver for being patriots. In Massachusetts they are choking our social system, here is my rationale:
(Mayor) states my position has been very clear on this issue:
The City of Springfield has done more than its fair share.
It makes no sense according to a recent Boston Federal Reserve report regarding Springfield “you can not continue to concentrate poverty on top of poverty.”
It places an unfair burden on our school department and other city services and therefore on our taxpayers.
I’ve called into question the accountability and follow through aspects of refugee agencies, who not too long ago placed a number of refugees in condemned housing units.
It’s time that surrounding communities step-up and do their fair share.
Say NO to refugees. America First.
(Mayor) states my position has been very clear on this issue:
The City of Nashville has done more than its fair share.
It makes no sense to bring in more refugees to Nashville, you can not continue to concentrate poverty on top of poverty.”
It places an unfair burden on our school department and other city services and therefore on our taxpayers.
I’ve called into question the accountability.
We don’t want more refugees to have to support, when our city is drained.
[…] The Star reported this week, officials in Stewart, Tipton, Wilson, Cannon, Macon, and Loudon counties either oppose Lee on the […]
[…] this month, Loudon County Commissioners voted to say no to refugees. On Wednesday, The Star reported that two more counties (Stewart and Tipton) have said […]
Blowing Smoke into a Hurricanes Rear End the petition and all your resolutions will go NO WHERES YOU NEED TO START WITH THE DAMN ILLEGALS FIRST AND FOREMOST!!!!!
Stop it before it’s too late.
We have people in this state, that are hungry, sick and dying, we have Veterans that are homeless, after fighting for our freedom! I can’t imagine, after voting for you that you would allow refugees in this stat when our citizen are in such need, of funds that would spent on them. I would not have voted for you, had I known this was you position on refugees! Please withdraw you potion on the matter of location of refugees in our state!
Inez, he is not going to do it, he hears the voice of the Lord speaking to him don’t you know. A more consequential question is whether you and others who voted for what was a No Record Candidate like Bill Lee have learned something from the experience. To put it bluntly Inez, are you ready to take the Bill Lee Oath to NEVER, EVER vote for a No Record Candidate again when a reasonable conservative alternative is available?
I have learned my lesson well, Stuart. But these battles are won/lost during Primary voting. The general elections are a sideshow. I wanted Mae Beavers. I ended up voting for this RINO.
Attention Tennesseans,
Friends, please, Your help is needed! Please sign and share this Petition, “Governor Bill Lee, reverse your decision” out to all of the Tennesseans that you know…We only have 2,397 signatures and we need at least 10,000 Tennessee Voters to sign it and make a big impact when this petition is taken to Governor Bill Lee…Click on the below link to sign our Petition…For you out of State people, please send this to all of your Tennessee friends and family…
We The People, The Voters, from Tennessee, call on our Governor, Mr. Bill Lee, to reverse his decision on the Refugee Resettlement Program.
WHEREAS,
Governor Lee has his priorities messed up. He made a horrendous decision to continue resettling REFUGEES against the wishes of his supporters; and,
WHEREAS,
All during the Haslam Adm, Tennesseans got screwed and here is proof; “Who Got the Jobs in Tennessee? All of Tennessee’s Employment Growth Since 2000 Has Gone to Immigrants, Yet Native Tennesseans Accounted for Two-Thirds of Population Growth”; and,
WHEREAS,
Your company was a bronze donor to the Nashville Chamber (25,000 plus in five years). “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; and,
WHEREAS,
The NAE is funded by MICHAEL BLOOMBERG and RUPERT MURDOCK, two never Trumpers; and,
WHEREAS,
In fact Bloomberg said; “Employers Should Hire ‘the Best’ Foreigners Instead of American; and,
WHEREAS,
As far as the liberal lies about a labor shortage, read the following;
The U.S. Is Not ‘Too Empty’ or ‘In Dire Need of New Faces’, at the N.Y. Times; and,
WHEREAS,
The federal Refugee Resettlement Program is operated today by the Global Left, the UN, Islam, and religious frauds. The goal is to Change America by Changing its People; and,
WHEREAS,
We the people, the voters, consider the issue of resettlement of refugees from the Middle East and other illegal aliens to be a matter of the most urgent concern, as it involves vital issues of national security, terrorism, public health and public safety, and expenditures of public taxpayer funds; and,
WHEREAS,
As a result, we are drowning in refugees who are destroying our Constitutional freedoms, overburdening our welfare system and posing a genuine national security threat; and,
WHEREAS,
Former FBI Director Comey has declared the complete vetting of foreign (Kurdish, Syrian, etc…) refugees to be impossible, and Defense Intelligence Agency Director Stewart states ISIS will attempt direct attacks again in the U.S.; and,
WHEREAS,
That enemy, the Islamic terrorist, is being allowed to live among Americans at the invitation of the United States Government; and,
WHEREAS,
The funding for this program is taken from the Federal government and the economic burden undeniably rests with the citizen taxpayer for the refugees’ welfare to include: housing, healthcare, food, education, language courses, job training, legal and community support making this program unsustainable and unacceptable to the American worker; and,
WHEREAS,
The Refugee Resettlement Program is bringing people into our state that can carry TB and all sorts of other diseases; and,
WHEREAS,
We the people, the voters, strongly recommend that our Governor, Mr. Bill Lee take a leading role in refusing to establish havens here in Tennessee; and,
WHEREAS,
The refugee who is truly fleeing for his life should be cared for in close proximity to his home country as it costs the American taxpayer twelve times the cost to resettle one refugee here as it would to shelter that refugee near his homeland; and,
WHEREAS,
There has never been a time in the history of this country where the government of the United States has worked so diligently against the interests of the American citizen; and,
WHEREAS,
Voter’s Remorse is running high in Tennessee; and,
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED THAT,
All State of Tennessee Legislators, Congressmen/women, Senators and the Tennessee State Governor shall immediately pass a bill with a Veto Proof and if possible an Executive Order proof that halts and defund the Refugee Resettlement program, until deemed appropriate, in order to bring about a more robust national security, and a healthy economy which seeks to put Tennesseans first, not refugees who have no vested interests in our State of Tennessee; and
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED THAT,
The Governor of Tennessee Bill Lee reverse’s his decision until the Tennessee State Election in November, 2020 and placed on the State Ballot so all of the Registered Voters of the State of Tennessee are allowed to place their votes for either a YES or NO and all State of Tennessee Legislators, Congressmen/women, Senators and Governor Bill Lee will act promptly and without delay to the wishes of the Voters of Tennessee.
https://www.ipetitions.com/petition/gov-bill-lee-reverse-your-resettlement-program
From Williamson County which proudly touts itself as the most Republican county in Middle Tennessee the only thing we are hearing so far is crickets. I just e-mailed the three county commissioners I financially supported because of their alleged conservatism hoping to see some tangible evidence of their ideology by supporting a No Consent Resolution now that the canons roar. We shall soon see which Williamson County Republican officeholders are “tall grass” Republicans, vs. conservative Republicans
How do we email Gov Lee?…I tried to send email to: [email protected], but it was undeliverable. Tell us how we can get through to him!
Try this contact page for Bill Lee:
https://www.tn.gov/governor/contact-us.html
Always the plight of folks from other countries for the liberals. Let’s first take care of our own homeless, hungry, veterans, and children at risk. I applaud these counties and look forward to more speaking up in defense of our at-risk CITIZENS. This is no Christian charity effort on liberals parts. How perverse (non Christian) must a person be to constantly be looking beyond those folks right in front of you that need help in favor of those you cannot see. Moral blinders.