Controversy in the past week about the movement of migrant children through Tennessee and into a Chattanooga shelter licensed by the state in May 2020 has led to confusion about the immigration status of the children housed in Southeast Tennessee and those video recorded exiting a plane in Chattanooga.
Gov. Bill Lee has previously been criticized for his strong words against President Joe Biden administration policies related to the unaccompanied minors after announcing in 2019 the state would continue resettling refugees.
The refugee resettlement program Lee supported under then-President Donald Trump is a separate program, housed primarily in the Department of State, to provide cash assistance, language training and job skills to refugees whom the federal government has determined either faced persecution in their home countries or have a credible fear of future persecution. Refugees are typically vetted outside the United States before receiving permission to enter the country. The president decides the number of refugees admitted to the country each year through the annual Presidential Determination.
The governor faced criticism from some conservatives at the time for continuing to accept refugees. Lee cited his Christian faith, calling it a “moral obligation” and a “biblical mandate” for the state to remain in the program.
This is a separate program from federal efforts to care for unaccompanied children who, after they cross the border, are initially in the custody of Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Customs and Border Protection. ICE and CBP have three days to move the children away from a temporary border shelter to a shelter run by the Office of Refugee Resettlement, which is part of the Department of Health and Human Services. Children stay in ORR shelters, like the one in Chattanooga, for about a month while caseworkers locate and vet a sponsor, usually a relative, to take custody of the child until immigration proceedings can begin.