Immigration advocates and researchers are pushing back against the claims of some Tennessee elected officials who are concerned about unaccompanied migrant children being transported through the Chattanooga airport to shelters in the region.
Lisa Sherman-Nikolaus, executive director of the Tennessee Immigrant and Refugee Rights Coalition, said in a statement that Tennessee officials must stop attacking children seeking safety in the United States.
“We need to protect vulnerable children. Period,” Sherman-Nikolaus said. “It is the right thing to do, and our laws require nothing less. We have the capacity, resources, and can do anything we decide we want to do, including protecting vulnerable children and families in need. It’s time to come together as a nation to reject cruelty and center the well-being of children and families.”
On Thursday, Republican Sens. Marsha Blackburn and Bill Hagerty of Tennessee, along with U.S. Rep. Chuck Fleischmann, R-Ooltewah, issued a letter to the secretaries of the Department of Health and Human Services and the Department of Homeland Security saying the lawmakers are “deeply troubled by the lack of transparency and accountability regarding the conditions that HHS is subjecting the children to.”
The record numbers of unaccompanied children crossing the border have raised concerns about health and safety at some temporary shelters, where there are issues of overcrowding.