TN Immigrant and Refugee Rights Coalition

[Tanuki]

http://www.tnimmigrant.org/

... "TIRRC is a statewide, immigrant and refugee-led collaboration whose mission is to empower immigrants and refugees throughout Tennessee to develop a unified voice, defend their rights, and create an atmosphere in which they are recognized as positive contributors to the state.
We are called to act with compassion...

16 November 2016

Dear friends,

Over the past several years, Tennessee has been on the front lines of anti-refugee policy. Since 2011, a handful of notoriously anti-Muslim and anti-immigrant legislators have been introducing a series of bills to defund or limit refugee resettlement to our state. While their efforts had been considered fringe by most of the legislature, the recent global refugee crisis and tragedies in Paris, Beirut, and Baghdad have given a new audience to those who have led these ongoing campaigns to curb refugee resettlement in our state.

Today after Representative Sheila Butt, Lieutenant Governor Ron Ramsey, Speaker of the House Beth Harwell and other Tennessee policy makers issued statements of their own, Governor Haslam announced that he would be joining the ranks of Texas and Alabama in asking the federal government to suspend the resettling of Syrian refugees in Tennessee.

In the wake of recent tragedies and in the context of the largest displacement of people since World War II, we are called to act with compassion and leadership, not fear and misplaced blame. These requests from Governor Haslam and other Tennessee elected officials are misguided, knee-jerk reactions to tragedy that put our state on the wrong side of history. You can read our entire statement on Governor Haslam's request here.

We need you to stand with us.

TIRRC and the ACLU of Tennessee are asking organizations to join us in sending a letter (below) to Governor Haslam asking him to rescind his request and to commit to working with the federal government to uphold our highest American values by investing in a generous and robust resettlement program. Please consider adding the name of your organization, business, faith institution, or civic group to the letter by signing on here.

We know that many individuals are seeking ways to take action, too. We encourage individuals to call their Representative and Governor Haslam and urge them not to turn their backs on Syrian refugees. Unfortunately, we know that regardless of what happens with the Governor's request we will continue to see anti-refugee legislation introduced when the General Assembly reconvenes in January. If you haven't already, please sign up for our action alert mailing list to ensure that you receive our calls to action during the legislative session. ....."