Gov. Bill Haslam says green card holders living in Tennessee should have the same rights as American citizens to travel, including to and from the Middle East and North Africa.
That means he doesn’t approve of the restrictions President Trump has placed on travel by permanent residents who come from seven Muslim nations.
Haslam defended Trump’s right to review immigration policy last week, when it was still unclear what the president had in the works.
But, Haslam says he was concerned about how the Trump administration implemented the executive order over the weekend. People, especially those who’ve already relocated to the United States, should have been given a chance to come back home.
“I’m not a federal expert on travel. I mean, I’m the governor of Tennessee,” he said Tuesday. “But to me, if you’re a legitimate green card holder, you should have the rights thereof.”
The Trump administration says it moved quickly on the partial travel ban because it didn’t want people to go in or out of the country at the last minute.
That caught some permanent residents by surprise. Nashville-area Kurds, in particular, have been unsure whether they can still visit relatives abroad — or get back to Tennessee if they’re already overseas.
Haslam says they shouldn’t face any more restrictions on travel than American citizens do.
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