Do States Have a Say in the Refugee Resettlement Program?
Tennessee lawsuit highlights federal overreach
By Don Barnett on January 24, 2018
Don Barnett is a fellow at the Center for Immigration Studies and has published widely on refugee resettlement and asylum issues.
The State of Tennessee filed a lawsuit against the federal government in March 2017 claiming that the refugee resettlement program was an imposition by Washington over which the state had no control.1 The lawsuit is pending, but it highlights a deep problem with how the refugee resettlement program has evolved since the passage of the Refugee Act in 1980.
This Backgrounder traces the history of the federal-state relationship regarding refugees, identifies flaws, and proposes solutions. Among the findings:
https://cis.org/Report/Do-States-Have-Say-Refugee-Resettlement-Program
