Gov. Bill Haslam said he only learned of the White House’s dumping of 760 illegal immigrants in Tennessee after seeing a notification on the Health and Human Services website — and that’s even after he had asked the Obama administration to give him advance notice of any illegals who were on their way to his state.
Mr. Haslam said he and several other governors “met with Health and Human Services Secretary Sylvia Burwell [and] emphasized to Secretary Burwell the need to be informed of any children being relocated to our states,” Breitbart reported.
He then said 700 illegal minor-aged immigrants were recently sent to Tennessee, but he received no notification at all.
“It is unacceptable that we become aware via a posting on the HHS website that 760 unaccompanied children have been released by the Office of Refugee Resettlement to sponsors in Tennessee without my administration’s knowledge,” he said in a letter to President Obama and Ms. Burwell, Breitbart reported.
“Not only was our state not informed prior to any of the children being brought here, I still have not been contacted and have no information about these individuals or their sponsors other than what was posted on the HHS website and subsequently reported by media,” he wrote in the letter.
He also said that the dumping of the illegals in his state — and in other states — could severely impact the financial coffers, Breitbart reported.
“The start of school is approaching for many districts across the state, and the federal government’s actions have caused great uncertainty around this issue,” Mr. Haslam said, Breitbart reported.
HHS said late last week that 30,340 illegal minor-aged immigrants have been placed in states around the nation since the start of this year.
• Cheryl K. Chumley can be reached at cchumley@washingtontimes.com.
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