Kentucky’s new Democrat Governor Andy Beshear has already made a big splash, despite only having just been inaugurated December 10th.
One of his first moves as Governor was to give over 140K convicted felons voting rights.
Now, in another controversial move, Beshear is turning down an offer from the Trump admin to slow the flow of migrants in our country by allowing individual states to turn them away.
Instead, Beshear has told Secretary of State Mike Pompeo that Kentucky will accept the refugees other states won’t accept.
Take a look at the breaking news on Twitter:
Gov. Beshear's constituents don't seem too pleased by his announcement, judging from these response tweets:
The Hill has more details on Gov. Beshear's welcoming of refugees into Kentucky:
Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear (D) says his state will continue to welcome refugees months after an executive order issued by the Trump administration allowed states to turn them away.
According to The Associated Press, Beshear announced the move in a letter to Secretary of State Mike Pompeo last week.
“Kentucky has welcomed refugees for well over three decades,” he reportedly stated in the letter. “Refugees in Louisville, Lexington, Bowling Green, Owensboro and other locales have contributed to the workforce and economic development of our state.”
The move follows similar announcements made by other Democratic governors in recent months, including Oregon Gov. Kate Brown and Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf.
President Trump said in the order issued in September that he had determined that the federal government should resettle refugees only in jurisdictions “in which both the State and local governments have consented to receive refugees under the Department of State’s Reception and Placement Program.”
Cincinnati Enquirer also said:
Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear has turned down an offer from President Donald Trump’s administration to halt refugee resettlement.
“Kentucky has welcomed refugees for well over three decades,” the Democratic governor wrote in a letter dated Tuesday to U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo. “Refugees in Louisville, Lexington, Bowling Green, Owensboro and other locales have contributed to the workforce and economic development of our state.”
About half of the states have consented to keep accepting refugees. No states so far have said they plan to stop accepting refugees under Trump’s order.
Even if a state opts out under Trump’s order, refugees could still move there, but they wouldn’t get funding for medical assistance and screenings, employment, social adjustment services and English language training.
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