Call to Round Up Syrian Refugees Is “Reprehensible”

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
November 18, 2015

CONTACT: Lindsay Kee, ACLU-TN communications director, 615-320-7142

Representative Glen Casada has called for Syrian refugees in Tennessee to be “gather[ed] up” and sent to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. His statements come on the heels of Governor Bill Haslam’s announcement that he has requested that the federal government suspend resettlement of Syrian refugees in Tennessee. Lieutenant Governor Ron Ramsey and House Speaker Beth Harwell have called for a moratorium on all refugees entering the United States.

The following can be attributed to Hedy Weinberg, executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union of Tennessee:

“Representative Casada’s statements are reprehensible. The people fleeing Syria are leaving to escape the same kind of terror we saw inflicted on Paris—to blame and punish innocent people for the very terror they are trying to escape is extraordinarily misguided. The idea that we should round up Syrian refugees not only echoes the shameful rhetoric of dark times in our history, it amounts to racial, ethnic and religious profiling, which violates our constitution.

In our desire for safety, we must not blindly lash out at innocent people. Refugees are already more thoroughly vetted than any other group of people who come to the United States, undergoing rigorous security screenings prior to their arrival.

ACLU-TN and its partners stand ready to ensure that the reflexive reactions and posturing of Representative Casada and other politicians do not undermine our American values of fair treatment and freedom, nor our civil liberties, during the upcoming legislative session.”