Yesterday Georgia Governor Nathan Deal echoed the sentiments of fellow Governors Greg Abbott of Texas and Bobby Jindal of Louisiana in releasing an executive order barring Syrian refugees from being resettled in his state. Said Deal, “In light of the terror attacks in Paris, I’ve issued an executive order directing state agency heads to prevent the resettlement of Syrian refugees in Georgia.”
The problem though is that Deal, and every other Governor who made similar statements, do not possess the power to refuse to accept refugees, Syrian or otherwise. The state government can not overrule the federal government on the issue of immigration, per a ruling made in the 1941 Supreme Court case Hines v. Davidowitz where the court stated, “the supremacy of the national power in the general field of foreign affairs, including power over immigration, naturalization and deportation, is made clear by the Constitution.”
Further, per the Refugee Act of 1980, it is the Executive Branch that reserves the power to admit refugees facing “persecution or a well-founded fear of persecution on account of race, religion, nationality, membership in a particular social group, or political opinion.” If you’re mad about that one, take it up with the 96th U.S. Congress.
That being said, the states aren’t powerless in this fight. In his executive order, Deal announced that, “no agency of the state of Georgia shall accept any refugees from Syria for resettlement in this state until such time as Congress has approved of the new processes for accepting refugees from Syria.” As stated above, Deal doesn’t technically have the power to refuse refugees. However, he can certainly make things more difficult by telling state agencies not to dole out money to the various charities who actually do the ground work of taking care of refugees once they enter the country. With other states more than willing to take in refugees, President Obama may decide that this is one fight he doesn’t want to pick. Of course, all this may be moot if and when Syrian refugees are granted entrance into the U.S. Once they’re here and settled, there isn’t much stopping them from traveling freely between states.
The second and more interesting possibility stems from the end of Deal’s quote, that the state would not accept any more refugees until, “such time as Congress has approved of the new processes for accepting refugees from Syria.” As of now, Congress has not taken steps toward passing any bill that would limit refugee relocation in any way. With less than a month before the House must pass a spending bill to prevent a Government shutdown though, this saga is just beginning. Governors such as Deal and Abbott are already putting pressure on their peers in Washington to add provisions to the December 11th spending bill that would either bar or more heavily regulate Syrian refugees as they attempt to come into the country. As newly elected House Speaker Paul Ryan faces the first major hurdle of his young tenure, expect this debate to heat up in coming weeks.
