NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — In a letter to President Barack Obama, Gov. Bill Haslam says his administration should have been informed about the placement of 760 unaccompanied immigrant children in Tennessee.
According to The Tennessean, Haslam says in the letter that the Department of Health and Human Services didn’t directly tell Tennessee officials that unaccompanied minors were being released into the custody of sponsors living in the state.
Instead, state officials learned of the minors through a posting on the department's website. Haslam says that’s "unacceptable."
Unaccompanied children have been fleeing violence in Central America and crossing into the U.S. because they believe they’ll be allowed to stay.
Children are placed in government shelters and then released to sponsors while they go through deportation proceedings.