Christopher Coen
Melissa Sogard
nancylee1
Refugee bill passes Tennessee state legislature
Posted by Christopher Coen on May 16, 2011
Nashville Public Radio is reporting that Tennessee’s House and Senate have passed the state refugee bill that would mandate that resettlement agencies report quarterly to local governments. It would also allow local communities to apply for a “moratorium” on refugee resettlement, with resettlement agencies, if those agencies overload local services.
…Refugee resettlement bill – The full House and Senate have now voted to require any agency that administers the state’s refugee program, which is currently Catholic Charities of Tennessee, to report quarterly to local governments.
SB 1670 from Sen. Jim Tracy of Shelbyville, which has seen a huge growth in Somali refugees, is called the Refugee Absorptive Capacity Act.
It’s designed to help local authorities plan for schools and emergency services. But it also requires Catholic Charities to accept an application from a local government for a moratorium on new refugee resettlement if a host community lacks sufficient capacity… Read more here
This bill should be unnecessary as an ORR regulation and the State Department’s Cooperative Agreement contract with resettlement agencies supposedly already require state refugee coordinators (in this case Catholic Charities itself as the state of Tennessee has dropped out of oversight responsibilities) to convene quarterly meetings with local officials. But this is the problem with under-monitored and unenforced requirements, which our national refugee resettlement program is rife with. Government oversight agencies have little authority in their relationships with refugee resettlement contractors who are thought of as “partners”. Enforcement of requirements and rigorous monitoring wouldn’t be partner-like. Hence we now have a state legislature attempting to codify a federal regulation. Doesn’t this undermine Tennessee residents’ trust of the national resettlement program? Every other lack of enforcement of basic requirements also undermines the public’s trust.
