Thu. Nov 28th, 2024

A mural outside of the Tennessee Immigrant and Refugee Rights Building. A spokesman for the organization said the election of Donald Trump is a "sad stain" on the nation. (Photo: John Partipilo)

A mural outside of the Tennessee Immigrant and Refugee Rights Building. A spokesman for the organization said the election of Donald Trump is a “sad stain” on the nation. (Photo: John Partipilo)

One day after voters reelected former President Donald Trump – who campaigned on the promise of mass deportations and called migrants “blood thirsty criminals” who are “poisoning the blood of our country” – a Tennessee immigrant advocacy group said it will fight to ensure the state’s immigrants and refugees live in freedom and dignity. 

“Donald Trump’s election – after months of threatening to uproot immigrant families, peddling baseless lies and conspiracy theories about our communities, and leaning into white supremacist tropes – is another sad stain in our nation’s troubled path toward a multiracial democracy,” read a statement from Lisa Sherman Luna, executive director of the Tennessee Immigrant and Refugee Rights Coalition on Wednesday.

Refugee, faith groups respond to Tennessee GOP uproar over asylum seekers

The 20-year-old statewide organization promised to defend the rights of Tennessee’s immigrant families.

“We know the next four years will challenge us, but they will not break us. Many immigrant Tennesseans left everything they know to make a better life for their families in our state and are more resilient than Donald Trump could ever imagine,” Sherman Luna’s statement said.

Trump, during his campaign, pledged to undertake the “largest deportation program in American history,” enlisting state governments and the U.S. military, if necessary.

Earlier this month, the Tennessee Immigrant and Refugee Rights Coalition shut down its offices over safety concerns after Tennessee Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti accused immigrant advocates and the Nashville mayor’s office of colluding with federal immigration officials to covertly bring thousands of undocumented immigrants to Tennessee. 

Skrmetti cited a plan that never materialized for Tennessee immigrant advocates, churches and other volunteers to help shepherd vetted asylum seekers cleared for release to families across the country.

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