Tennessee makes its mark as the first state to tell the federal government that it can’t be forced to pay for the federal refugee resettlement program. It’s even suing them for its continuation of the program after the state withdrew from the program. Most costs fall to state taxpayers from the settlement, but they assert their right not to pay the state portion of the Medicaid bill for the refugees placed in Tennessee. Its General Assembly filed suit against the federal agencies responsible for the resettlement program over the right to enact the state’s annual budget without diverting Tenn Care funds to the federal government for refugees. However, the suit was dismissed on the grounds that the state legislature “lacked standing.”
When the act was passed, it was intended for the federal government alone to fund the program they created, but the costs shifted to state governments after Congress reduced funding for the refugee resettlement program. Regulations issued during the Clinton administration make it impossible for a state to stop paying program costs by withdrawing from the program, as in Tennessee, resulting in the state continuing to pay certain costs that were once the responsibility of the federal government. In 2016, after the Obama administration raised the annual refugee quota, more states asked to withdraw and sued the federal government in an effort to halt the planned large-scale Syrian resettlement. As of today, apart from Tennessee’s, there are no state refugee lawsuits are active today, as a result of Trump administration cuts to the refugee quota.
Article: https://thefederalist.com/2019/04/02/states-pay-refugee-resettlement-program-dont-want/