Nathan Deal, Governor of the state of Georgia, has a reputation for being a bloviating wingnut, but his insistence that Georgia would not accept Syrian refugees has ballooned into an act against a Syrian family recently placed in Georgia that speaks to immense spite as well as inexcusable ignorance of the facts regarding the resettlement of said Syrians.
The refugee family of three (two adults and their four-year-old son) arrived in Georgia just last week, as reported on TPM (sourced from the Atlanta Journal-Constitution), and Deal has already taken steps to ensure they understand that they’re not welcome:
The Department of Human Services sent a memo in November ordering employees not to process the applications of Syrian refugees after Gov. Nathan Deal (R) issued an executive order telling all state agencies to stop any involvement with the resettlement of refugees from Syria.
Ravae Graham, a spokeswoman for the state’s Department of Human Services, told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution that the department will follow the Nov. 18 memo with the newly arrived family.
"We are just going to follow that process as outlined," she said.
In November, Deal announced that he would not accept Syrian refugees, claiming the terror attacks in Paris as his reason for doing so. However, Deal has been demanding that the government limit the number of refugees sent to Georgia since 2012, so his stance is no real surprise — other than that he seems to have no understanding of federal immigration law.
Mohammad and Ebtesam, the refugee couple, have applied for food stamps and other state benefits. Deal’s executive order means that Mohammad and Ebtesam, who have asked that their full names not be used in order to protect family still living in Syria, may not receive housing assistance, food stamps, or even medical care. For two adults, living without anything is bad enough, but with a small child, it is devastating. For a so-called Christian governor, Deal has a funny way of showing Christian charity and mercy, especially when you consider that what he’s demanding — absolute proof that refugees aren’t terrorists — is fairly well assured by the 24-month vetting process Syrian refugees endure when they apply to the U.S. for resettlement.
As it is, it looks like Deal (like other red state governors — Alabama, most recently, over Planned Parenthood) is gearing up to cost Georgia some serious money. The Obama Administration has warned that Deal's executive order is not in compliance with federal law, and Jessica Shanin, associate administrator at the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), wrote a letter to the state of Georgia back in November that denying food stamps to Syrian refugees would violate federal law:
This letter serves as notification that the Georgia Department of Human Services (DHS) must accept and process applications for any individual or household that applies for SNAP. The Food and Nutrition Service (FNS) is in receipt of a November 18, 2015 memorandum signed by you instructing DHS not to take or process applications for benefit assistance to Syrian refugees in any DHS administered program. In order to be in compliance with the Food and Nutrition Act of2008, as amended, DHS must rescind this memorandum and cease this practice immediately. As long as an applicant submits a SNAP application that includes the applicant's name, address, and signature, the State agency must accept and process the application to be in compliance with Federal law.
As you are aware, State agencies administering SNAP must comply with all Civil Rights requirements and laws. DHS may not discriminate based on age, race, color, sex, disability, religious creed, national origin, or political affiliation. Refusing to accept applications based on a household's national origin is in violation of these vital requirements.
Deal, of course, had this brilliant remark to make about the situation:
"I’ve already told them if they don’t like the way we administer the SNAP program, the food stamp program — it’s their program — if they don’t like the way we do it, let them come run it," Deal said last week, according to the Savannah Morning News. "We’ll hand it over to them."
He also complained that he wasn't told in advance of the family's arrival.
"It’s ironic that the federal government doesn’t see fit to tell the state of Georgia, doesn’t see fit to tell our Homeland Security official, who these people are and where they are," Deal said last week. "The only way we know they are actually here is when they show up and apply for food stamps."
One wonders, considering that Deal seems to lack the basic understanding of federal law that a quick check on Google would remedy by a factor of 100, if he truly was left uninformed of Mohammad and Ebtesam’s arrival, or if he abandoned the briefing for a Bible study.
In the meantime, Georgia’s Division of Family and Child Services plans to follow Deal’s executive order. Deal himself has stated this week that he’s prepared to go to court to defend his decision against the federal government, a position that has State Attorney General Sam Olens nervous; according to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Olens sent Deal an email stating that his policy on Syrian refugees “is not well supported in the law." Olens added that he hoped “every effort is made to resolve this matter without resort to litigation,” but Deal doesn’t seem likely to agree.
In the meantime, Mohammad and Ebtesam have stated that they feel safe in Georgia, and World Relief Atlanta appears to be working on their behalf. After the vetting process they’ve been through, one wonders: just how many hoops should they have to go through to persuade one blinkered elected official that they aren’t a threat? I’d like to see Nathan Deal go through the same vetting process and then be told at the end that he still wouldn’t be accepted as a refugee.