Following reports that Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) are planning to bus an unknown number of illegal immigrants to Tennessee this week, Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti released a statement condemning the federal government for the action and confirming that his office is “exploring all options” to administer the situation.
Tennessee Governor Bill Lee announced earlier this week that his office was notified that “ICE facilities in New Orleans are scheduled to begin transporting an unknown number of single adult detainees to Tennessee this week to await court proceedings,” as previously reported by The Tennessee Star.
The Attorney General's Office joins @GovBillLee and our federal delegation in demanding the administration abandon their plan to release detainees into our state.
— TN Attorney General (@AGTennessee) December 20, 2022
Stating that his office learned of the federal government’s plan to bus illegal immigrants into Tennessee on Monday evening, Skrmetti added, “Tennesseans should not be forced to bear the burden of the federal government’s ongoing failure to secure the border.”
Skrmetti is joining Governor Bill Lee and Senators Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) and Bill Hagerty (R-TN) in calling on the Biden administration to reverse their plan for detainee relocation.”
“As a prosecutor, I saw first-hand the opportunities our porous border created for child sex traffickers. As Attorney General, I have seen how our porous border has allowed the opioid epidemic to metastasize into a fentanyl epidemic as Mexican factories turn Chinese chemicals into drugs that kill thousands of Americans. Every day that we fail to secure our border, we allow these terrible harms to continue,” Skrmetti added.
Skrmetti said, “We are exploring all options. The lack of appropriate notice and the lack of transparency by both the federal government and its local partners means we must work quickly, but we are committed to ensuring the safety of Tennessee’s citizens.”
On Wednesday, Senators Blackburn and Hagerty sent a letter to ICE expressing “deep concern” and requested that the department “provide more information” regarding the situation.
My fellow TN Senate GOP colleague, @MarshaBlackburn, & I sent a letter to @ICEGov expressing deep concern regarding ICE's plan to release an unspecified number of illegal immigrants into Tennessee. It's unacceptable that Biden has decided to impose his crisis on the people of TN. pic.twitter.com/zV83MtR1W1
— Senator Bill Hagerty (@SenatorHagerty) December 21, 2022
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Kaitlin Housler is a reporter at The Tennessee Star and The Star News Network.
