Attorney General Says Illegal Immigrant Pay Forfeiture Bill Unconstitutional

The Tennessee Attorney General says a proposal to let the state seize the paycheck of illegal immigrants is unconstitutional.

Attorney General Bob Cooper says the bill would conflict with the Federal Labor Standards Act.

House sponsor Mike Turner, a Nashville Democrat says he’ll have the opinion reviewed by other attorneys before he gives up on it. Turner says it addresses a real problem – illegal immigration that the state can’t afford.

“It’s putting a burden on our school systems, it’s putting a burden on our welfare systems. We can’t take care of our own poor people, now we’re having to take care of other countries’ poor people.”

Turner’s bill would allow the state to seize earnings and property involved in the illegal work, and courts to sentence offenders to six months in jail and a $500 fine.

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The Opinion is 08-88, and you can read it here.

The bill is HB0066 Mike Turner/SB 0252 Haynes. Before the opinion was issued, the bill had survived the House committee system and was ready to go to the House floor. In the Senate it passed in Senate Commerce, Labor & Agriculture Committee on March 11.