Syrian Refugees Arrive In SC

NIKKI HALEY STILL PLAYING POLITICS …

This website has been all over the issue of refugee resettlements in South Carolina.  Back in April, we were the first website in the state to expose the shady backdoor taxpayer financing of these efforts – and since then we’ve worked tirelessly to expose the additional costs associated with our state accepting these refugees.

We oppose these resettlements vehemently … for reasons outlined here.

We also strongly support activists like Michelle Wiles who are working to put a stop to the program – and state lawmakers like Donna Hicks and Chris Corley who have been leading the opposition to the program in the S.C. General Assembly.

Unfortunately most of our state’s leaders – most notably S.C. governor Nikki Haley – have failed to do anything to stop these resettlements.  In fact Haley has been financially supporting them out of her scandal-scarred S.C. Department of Social Services (SCDSS) – even though she was specifically enjoined from doing so by budget writers in the S.C. General Assembly.

And even after the recent terrorist attacks in Paris – which included a refugee component – Haley has continued to try and dance her way around the issue.

Weeks ago, Haley made headlines when she belatedly wrote to U.S. secretary of state John Kerry to “request” that refugees from Syria not be included in any South Carolina resettlements.

Here’s what we had to say at the time …

Do Haley’s letters do the trick?  No … not even a little bit.

Aside from the passive nature of Haley’s communiques (i.e. “requesting” not “informing”), it’s not clear whether she has the authority to pick and choose which refugees South Carolina accepts once it has agreed to participate in the program.  Once states bind themselves to take refugees, they haven’t historically been permitted to change the terms of the arrangement.

Exactly.  So, imagine our (ahem) surprise to pick up a copy of The Greenville News this morning, in which a bold headline proclaims “Syrian Refugees Arrive in South Carolina, More Coming.”

Haley claims to have been surprised by the headline, too.

“The federal government did not communicate with Haley’s office that it was resettling the Syrians in South Carolina, according to the Governor’s Office,” reporter Tim Smith noted in the story.  “The governor learned of the resettlements through DSS and a resettlement agency.”

Really?  Last time we checked SCDSS was a cabinet agency (a disastrous one, but a cabinet agency nonetheless).  In other words, to inform SCDSS is to inform the governor.

Is Haley really playing the “I’m as shocked as you are” card?

At every step of this process Haley has worked affirmatively to facilitate these resettlements.  She actively argued for them prior to the Paris attacks, and since the Paris attacks she has stonewalled efforts to shut them down.

And at no point has she bothered to ask what sort of long-term obligations these resettlements impose on South Carolina taxpayers … or for that matter bothered to ask what role America’s ill-conceived (and costly) foreign interventionism played in creating the refugee crisis in the first place.

Seriously: If Christians in Syria are trying to escape religious persecution, wouldn’t it be a good idea to ask who is doing the persecution?

Oh … right.  We’re funding the persecutors.

This website is all for compassion.  And those who wish to come out of their own pockets to provide cradle-to-grave support for refugees ought to be allowed to do so.  But as we’ve noted repeatedly over the last few months, compassion cannot be compulsory.

Especially not in a state that’s already as dirt poor as South Carolina.

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