New Statement from TN AG Jonathan Skrmetti Regarding President’s Plan to Release Ice Detainees in Tennessee
Nashville- “Late last night, we learned of the President’s plan to bus ICE detainees to Tennessee. Tennesseans should not be forced to bear the burden of the federal government’s ongoing failure to secure the border. The Attorney General’s Office joins Governor Lee and our federal delegation in demanding the administration abandon their plan to release detainees into our state.
As a prosecutor, I saw first-hand the opportunities our porous border created for child sex traffickers. As Attorney General, I have seen how our porous border has allowed the opioid epidemic to metastasize into a fentanyl epidemic as Mexican factories turn Chinese chemicals into drugs that kill thousands of Americans. Every day that we fail to secure our border, we allow these terrible harms to continue.
We are exploring all options. The lack of appropriate notice and the lack of transparency by both the federal government and its local partners means we must work quickly, but we are committed to ensuring the safety of Tennessee’s citizens.”
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