President Trump on September 24, 2019, issued Executive Order 13888, entitled “Enhancing State and Local Involvement in Refugee Resettlement” that required state and local governments to submit to the Department of State written consents for resettlement of refugees as a precondition for such resettlements.[1]
The deadline for providing those consents, however, has been confusing in the primary and secondary sources. But it now appears that the key date is January 21, 2020, which is the deadline for local refugee resettlement agencies to submit applications for funding of those efforts by the State Department’s Bureau of Population Refugees and Migrations (PRM) and that such funding applicants must submit to PRM such “consent letters from state and local officials on a rolling basis both before and after submission of their proposals.” (Emphasis added.) Thus, there is no explicit deadline for submitting the consents.[2]
List of Consenting State & Local Governments
PRM now is publishing on its website a list of state and local governments that have submitted letters of consent, copies of most of which are hyperlinked to the list.[3] However, there is no “as of” date for the PRM’s list which will be updated from time to time. In any event, here is the latest PRM list consolidated with lists from other sources identifying 34 states (15 Republican governors and 19 Democrat Governors) that have consented.[4]
| State | PRM | Other
Sources |
Local
Entities |
PRM | Other
Sources |
| Arizona (Rep. Gov.) | X | X | Phoenix (City), Tucson (City)
Maricopa (County), Pima (County) |
X | |
| Arkansas (Rep. Gov.) | X | ||||
| Colorado (Dem. Gov.) | X | ||||
| Connecticut (Dem. Gov.) | X | X | New Haven (City) | X | |
| Delaware (Dem. Gov.) | X | X | |||
| Illinois (Dem. Gov.) | X | X | DuPage County, Chicago (City) | X | X |
| Indiana (Rep. Gov.) | X | ||||
| Iowa (Rep. Gov.) | X | ||||
| Kansas (Dem. Gov.) | X | X | |||
| Louisiana (Dem. Gov.) | X | ||||
| Maine (Dem. Gov.) | X | ||||
| Massachusetts (Rep. Gov.) | X | X | Easthampton (City) | X | |
| Holyoke (City) | X | ||||
| Northampton (City) | X | ||||
| Salem (City) | X | ||||
| West Springfield (City) | X | ||||
| Michigan (Dem. Gov.) | X | X | |||
| Minnesota (Dem. Gov.) | X | X | Minneapolis (City) | X | |
| Montana (Dem. Gov.) | X | X | |||
| Nebraska (Rep. Gov.) | X | ||||
| New Hampshire (Rep. Gov.) | X | ||||
| New Jersey (Dem. Gov.) | X | X | |||
| New Mexico (Dem. Gov.) | X | X | |||
| North Carolina (Dem. Gov.) | X | X | Durham County | X | |
| North Dakota (Rep. Gov.) | X | X | Burleigh County | X | |
| Ohio (Rep. Gov.) | X | ||||
| Oklahoma (Rep. Gov.) | |||||
| Oregon (Dem. Giov.) | X | X | |||
| Pennsylvania (Dem. Gov.) | X | X | |||
| Rhode Island (Dem. Gov.) | X | ||||
| South Dakota (Rep. Gov.) | X | ||||
| Tennessee (Rep. Gov.) | X | ||||
| Texas (Rep. Gov.) | X[i] | Bexar County | X | ||
| Utah (Rep. Gov.) | X | X | |||
| Vermont (Rep. Gov.) | X | ||||
| Virginia (Dem. Gov.) | X | X | Alexandria (City) | X | |
| Richmond (City) | X | ||||
| Roanoke (City) | X | ||||
| Washington (Dem. Gov.) | X | X | |||
| West Virginia (Rep. Gov.) | X | ||||
| Wisconsin (Dem. Gov.) | X |
Finally no state so far has affirmatively rejected such resettlements although there is no requirement to do so. Rejection is implicit if there is no affirmative consent.
Conclusion
Many of the current letters of consent contain inspiring words about welcoming refugees that will be discussed in a subsequent post while another post will cover religious justifications for welcoming refugees.
Now we wait to learn what the other 16 states (11 Republican (Alabama, Alaska, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Maryland, Mississippi, Missouri, South Carolina, Texas and Wyoming) and 5 Democrat (California, Hawaii, Kentucky, Nevada and New York ) will do.
It should be noted, however, that the official website of New York’s Democrat Governor Andrew Cuomo on September 17, issued a statement criticizing the Trump Administration’s new lower cap on refugee admissions and saying, “We believe that our diversity is our greatest strength, and we are proud to be home to refugees across the state who are breathing new life into their communities as members of the family of New York. While President Trump undermines the values that built this state and this nation, New York will always welcome immigrants and refugees with open arms.”[6]
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[1] See these posts to dwkcommentaries.com: U.S. Sets 18,000 Quota for New Refugee Admissions to U.S. for Fiscal 2020 (Nov. 4, 2019; U.S. Senators Oppose U.S.Reduction in Refugee Admissions for Fiscal 2020 (Nov. 11, 2019);Latest U.S. Struggle Over Refugees (Dec. 11, 2019); Minnesota and Minneapolis Say “Yes” to Refugees (Dec. 14, 2019); Updates on States’ Consents to Refugee Resettlement (Dec. 16, 2019); https://dwkcommentaries.com/2019/12/16/update-on-states-consents-to-refugee-resettlement/ Tennessee Consents to Refugees Resettlement (Dec. 20, 2019).
[2] State Dep’t, Bureau of Population, Refugees, and Migration (PRM), FY 2020 Notice of Funding Opportunity for Reception and Placement Program, Funding Opportunity Number: SFOP0006252 (Nov. 6, 2019) FY2020 R&P FINAL NOFO.
[3] State Dep’t, State and Local Consents Under Executive Order 13888.
[4] See prior posts listed in footnote 1. See also Assoc. Press, Oklahoma governor give consent for refugee resettlement, koco.com (Dec. 22, 2019); Assoc. Press, GOP Governors Grapple With Whether to Accept Refugees or Not, N.Y. Times (Dec. 23, 2019); Assoc. Press, 15 GOP Govs Request Refugee Resettlement in Their States, NEWSMAX (Dec. 26, 2019); CBSChicago, Mayor Lightfoot Issues Letter To U.S. State Department Authorizing Refugee Resettlement in Chicago (Dec. 24, 2019); Assoc. Press, John Bel Edwards to Trump: Louisiana will keep taking refugees, Advocate (Dec. 23, 2019); Carson, Evers says Wisconsin is open to refugee resettlement in response to presidential order requiring states, counties to consent, Milwaukee Sentinel (Dec. 18, 2019); Stoddard, Gov. Pete Ricketts says he’ll consent to refugees continuing to resettle in Nebraska, Omaha-World Herald (Dec. 19, 2019).
[5] It appears that Texas is on the PRM list only because Bexar County has submitted a consent. On December 26, 2019, a Texas newspaper reported that Texas Governor Greg Abbott has not submitted such a consent letter and that his spokesman “did not return multiple calls, texts, and emails seeking comment.” On the other hand, “Mayors and county leaders of all Texas’ biggest cities —including Houston, San Antonio, Dallas and Austin — sent letters opting in,” but those consents are effective only if the state consents. (Kriel, Trump give states power to admit refugees. As other GOP governors sign on, Abbott is silent, Houston Chronicle (Dec. 26, 2019).)
[6] Statement from Governor Andrew M. Cuomo on the Trump Administration’s New Refugee Cap (Sept. 17, 2019).