Tennessee Governor Bill Lee visited the country’s southern border Friday reviewing “the most severe border crisis we’ve seen in 20 years,” though many called the visit political grandstanding.
Lee visited with 300 Tennessee National Guard members at the Texas border and “evaluat[ing] needs in securing the border.” Lee and other Republican governors sent guard troops to the border at the behest of Texas Governor Greg Abbott who claims, “open-border policies have led to a humanitarian crisis at our southern border as record levels of illegal immigrants, drugs, and contraband pour into Texas.”
Here’s how Lee responded in a tweet before his visit:
But Lee is really only using the trip “to score political points” and using “time and resources for a photo op,” according to Tennessee Immigrant and Refugee Rights (TIRRC) executive director Lisa Sherman-Nikolaus. She said Lee’s priories are unfocused as the trip comes after ending federal unemployment benefits for thousands of Tennesseans and then giving public money “from working families” for airline tickets for people out-of-state to go on a vacation.
“As Tennessee recovers from the pandemic, we need our governor focused on schools fully re-opening, the economy bouncing back, and sustaining our public healthcare,” Sherman-Nikolaus said in a statement. “We urge the governor to not use time and resources for a photo op, and instead focus on improving the lives of all Tennesseans.
What the governor is doing is playing on the fear of his constituents to further feed into the narrative of there being a crisis at the border.
Lisa Sherman-Nikolaus
“What the governor is doing is playing on the fear of his constituents to further feed into the narrative of there being a crisis at the border, when in reality there is a greater need for logistics for processing people who are seeking refuge.”
Responses to the governor’s tweet echoed much of this sentiment:
But Lee did have supporters on Twitter:
The 300 Tennessee National Guard members are stationed at multiple sites on the Texas border to support Customs and Border Protection. They are from the 269th Military Police Company, 913th Engineer Company, and the 2-151 Aviation Battalion.
