According to an official release from the office of Tennessee Governor Bill Lee, the Immigration Control Enforcement Department under President Biden’s administration is planning to release immigrant detainees into Tennessee.
Below are statements from Gov. Lee, Senator Marsha Blackburn, and Senator Bill Hagerty.
On Monday afternoon, Gov. Lee’s office was notified of the Biden administration’s intent to transport multiple busloads of single adult detainees from ICE facilities in New Orleans into Tennessee, beginning as soon as this week. Federal officials have not shared any further details. The Governor’s office continues to push back on the plan.
Gov. Lee: “We’ve been informed by ICE that they plan to release single adult detainees into Tennessee while they await court proceedings. This is irresponsible and a threat to the safety of Tennesseans. Furthermore, we already have a national security crisis at our border, and the Biden administration’s attempt to revoke Title 42 will only incentivize more illegal crossings. It’s not compassionate to perpetuate a problem that leads to more exploitation and trafficking. 7,000 people unlawfully enter our country every day. This crisis is too big to ignore, and the only way to stop it is to secure the border. Placing the burden on states is not a solution, and we should not bear the brunt of the federal government’s failures. We are demanding the Biden administration reverse their plan for detainee relocation. In the meantime, we’re also discussing options with the Tennessee Attorney General and our federal delegation.”
Sen. Blackburn: “Joe Biden’s border crisis has made one thing abundantly clear — every town is a border town and every state is a border state. The Biden Administration is trafficking illegal immigrants into communities across the country, including here in Tennessee. Governor Lee, Senator Hagerty, Attorney General Skrmetti, and I will be utilizing all possible options to stop President Biden from trafficking them into our state. Biden created this crisis by terminating successful Trump-era immigration policies, including Remain in Mexico and safe third country agreements. Tennesseans will not stand for this flagrant disregard for law and order.”
Sen. Hagerty: “When I traveled to the border in April, Border Patrol agents told me that ‘the people don’t stay here and the drugs don’t either.’ Today’s news underscores what I’ve heard from Tennessee law enforcement time and again, which is that our open border has turned every town into a border town. This has brought heartbreaking consequences to communities throughout America in the form of increased drug overdoses. It has strained resources for hospitals, schools, and local communities. It has also jeopardized our national security—with border crossers arriving from more than 160 different nations, a number of whom are on terrorist watch lists. In the last year, nearly three million migrants have illegally entered the country—a population larger than the largest four cities of Tennessee combined—Nashville, Memphis, Knoxville, and Chattanooga. This does not even include the number of “gotaway” migrants who illegally crossed into our country undetected. Congress must take action to secure the border. It’s unfair to place the burden on Tennessee citizens and local officials to deal with this Administration’s self-inflicted failures. Yet shockingly, in spite of this ongoing humanitarian disaster, President Biden and Democrats in Congress have put forward a government funding bill that will only serve to exacerbate the crisis by increasing funding for resettlement operations while simultaneously ignoring that Title 42—Border Patrol agents’ last enforcement tool—is on the cusp of expiring. This is unacceptable. A nation without a border is not a sovereign nation. President Biden cannot ignore this crisis any longer.”
Earlier this year, other governors drew national attention for relocating immigrants from Texas and Florida to Martha’s Vineyard, Connecticut and Washington D.C. While many pundits and political analysts predicted the actions of those governors would draw fierce backlash, both Governors were re-elected by large margins, with Florida Governor Ron DeSantis winning by 19 points, and Greg Abbott won by 12 points.
Florida Attracts Most New Residents of All States in 2022
A vibrant economy and an influx of news residents and news businesses have helped Florida become the top state for new residents in 2022, according to the latest report from the U.S. Census. Florida’s population increased by 1.9% to 22.2 million between 2021 and 2022, the data show, surpassing Idaho, which led last year. Florida had the second-largest numeric gains, behind Texas.
“For the third most-populous state to also be the fastest growing is notable because it requires significant population gains,” the US Census bureau’s Marc Perry, Luke Rogers and Kristie Wilder said in a press release.
In addition to the influx of new residents, the Sunshine State also touts one of the top states for company relocations, and Florida led the country in new business formations from January 2021 to January 2022, accounting for almost 12% of all new business starts nationwide. Florida also ranked as the top states for foreign business, with Miami and Orlando ranking first and second, respectively, in Financial Times-Nikkei ranking of best US cities for foreign businesses. Florida also touts one of the lowest unemployment rates in the country, with the latest statewide report showing an unemployment rate of only 2.6 percent.
Ron DeSantis announced that Florida’s unemployment rate dropped to 2.6 percent in November, down from 2.7 percent in October. The national unemployment rate stood at 3.7 percent.
“Florida’s private sector employment increased by 28,100 jobs over the month in November 2022, an increase of 0.3 percent. Florida’s total private sector employment increased by 5.2 percent (+420,700 jobs) over the year in November 2022, faster than the national private sector job growth rate of 3.6 percent over the same time period. Florida employers have added jobs for 31 consecutive months in November 2022,” the governor’s office noted.“Florida’s continued success over the past two years is no accident. No matter the challenges, we have stayed on offense,” said DeSantis. “Florida’s economy is outpacing the nation for the second consecutive year because we have invested in our workforce and prioritized keeping Floridians at work and businesses open. As the new year approaches, we will continue investing in our workforce and infrastructure to create jobs and keep our economy moving forward.”
“While D.C. liberals and blue states are still exacerbating their self-inflicted inflation and supply chain woes, Governor DeSantis has continued his charge for Freedom First policies, and as a result Florida is literally hedging against a recession, growing its workforce, supporting new businesses and innovation, and leading the nation’s economic recovery,” said outgoing Department of Economic Opportunity (DEO) Sec. Dane Eagle. “People vote with their feet, and folks are running to the free state of Florida as fast as they can.”
Colony Capital relocated its corporate headquarters from Los Angeles to Boca Raton, and despite Disney’s public disagreements with Governor DeSantis on state education reforms, Disney is expected to finalize the transfer of its entire Disney Parks, Experiences and Products division from California to Orlando’s Lake Nona region.