Immigration Issue in Governor Race

Republican Jim Bryson is using a recent tragedy to attack Phil Bredesen’s stance on immigration. The Republican gubernatorial candidate stood beside Heather Steffek at a press conference today. She’s the daughter of a Mt. Juliet couple recently killed when their car was hit by an SUV driven by an illegal immigrant.

Bryson says he wants to expand the Tennessee Highway Patrol enforcement bill to prevent deaths such as those of Sean and Donna Wilson. Before the crash, illegal immigrant Gustavo Reyes Garcia had been arrested 14 times in Nashville without being turned over to federal officials for his illegal status.

“We must have a system that allows patrolmen to check an immigrant’s illegal status during routine patrols and decide whether that immigrant should be held. This would allow law enforcement to find and detain illegal aliens in the ordinary course of business.”

Governor Phil Bredesen says he encourages anyone, including state troopers to report an immigration violation, but he draws the line at going further saying, “that’s the federal government’s job”.

You start with the highway patrol, then I guess the department of children’s services would need to be involved, and then I guess the department of human services would need to be involved and we’ll wake up one day and Tennessee is doing the federal government’s job for it and that’s not appropriate.” Bryson says his campaign will make immigration reform a top issue in the governor’s race.

This story was reported with assistance from Nathan Baker