A Tennessee challenge to federal education rights is one step closer to passage, despite mounting pressure from protesters and faith leaders.
Legislation that would allow schools to refuse undocumented students passed the House Education Committee Wednesday to a crowd of protesters singing “Jesus Love the Little Children.” The committee convened for a special meeting to take up the legislation, sponsored by House Majority Leader William Lamberth, R-Portland. Every step of the bill’s progress through the legislature has been met with protest. Spectators were warned not to disrupt the hearing.
Republican leadership has said the bill is intended as a legal challenge to the 1982 U.S. Supreme Court case, Plyler v. Doe, which established the right to an education for all students, regardless of immigration status. If passed, the bill’s sponsors expect it to be challenged in the courts.
That could allow the state to bring an appeal to the nation’s highest court. With SCOTUS’s current makeup, Republicans hope to re-try Plyler with a different outcome, similar to how a Mississippi state law led to the reversal of federal abortion rights.
Before the committee, Lamberth said the cost to educate undocumented students has burdened local school districts. Under the legislation, schools would be able to refuse undocumented students, or else charge their families tuition.
“It does cost more to educate that child,” Lamberth said. “It is not fair to the rest of the families in that community that all do pay for that entire educational structure in that system to bear the brunt of those additional expenses.”
The majority of English learners are U.S. citizens, according to the advocacy group Ed Trust.
Rep. Charlie Baum, R-Murfreesboro, who ultimately voted against the measure, questioned whether it would be much of a deterrent for illegal immigration, given that non-citizens in the state already cannot access food stamps, healthcare or social security.
“We’re not serving as a magnet for illegal immigration because we don’t provide a lot of benefits that citizens get … We’re not doing that in a way that hurts children,” Baum said. “Is it possible that the current mix here … might be the right mix?”
Lamberth argued that if undocumented students graduate high school, they won’t be able to move onto higher education because of their immigration status.
“When they graduate, they are not employable. They will, unfortunately have to live in the shadows the rest of their days until some sort of a pathway for citizenship arises, because if it doesn’t, they will not be paid the wages. They will not be able to obtain the licensure. They will not be able to obtain an actual, legal job,” Lamberth said. “And that’s not fair to them, either.”
Lipscomb University counselor Karla MacIntyre testified that the universal right to an education was crucial to her success, and the success of the students she coaches.
“If HB 793 had been in effect during my K through 12 years, my mom would not have been able to afford tuition,” MacIntyre said. “I would have not had the freedom to learn and I would have discontinued my studies. Thankfully, this was not the case. Because my teachers and my community believed in my right to education.”
As protestors streamed out of the committee room, Rep. Gabby Salinas, D-Memphis, said that the people are not going to buckle to prejudice.
“At the end of the day, it’s about people,” Salinas said. “These are real people we’re talking about. They are not some numbers. They are our neighbors, our church members.”
MORE: Tennessee passes sweeping immigration law to support Trump’s mass deportations
Christian activists took the fight to Senate sponsor Bo Watson’s home church in Chattanooga earlier this month, urging his congregation to call or email his office to voice their opposition.
In the past few weeks, Watson’s office has received 48 emails opposing the legislation and seven emails in favor, according to records obtained by WPLN News. While none of those emails follow the script that activists laid out at Watson’s church, the next day his office received emails appealing to his faith.
“I pray that you will find it in your heart to oppose this bill not only because it is the right thing to do to support children who are God’s children, just as our own are, but also because it is the fiscally responsible thing to do,” one Oak Ridge resident wrote.
“I don’t feel like I need to quote scripture because I know you can quote the chapter and verses,” another email read. “My request is that you slow down, pray, and listen to your conscience. Children should not suffer because of their parents’ decisions.”
Watson has said that he proposed the legislation as an answer to a financial issue, citing a now-rescinded resolution from the Rutherford County School Board. The board had initially called on the state legislature to advocate for the “closure of our nation’s borders” and increased funding from the federal government for the district’s English language learner programs.
“We don’t know the number of individuals who are here unlawfully that we are having to fund, and it’s getting more expensive each year,” Watson said before a committee earlier this month. “So, the thinking would be, perhaps, that those who are here unlawfully, when they don’t have this advantage here, will either return to where they came from or find other means.”
Sen. Raumesh Akbari, D-Memphis, said that the administrative cost of verifying students’ legal statuses, and the cost of fielding lawsuits against the state, is greater than the cost of educating undocumented children.
“This is saying that, ‘Babies—you start school at five years old—you do not deserve to be educated,’” Akbari said.
The bill now heads to a House finance committee. The measure also has a hearing scheduled in the Senate Finance committee next week before it can head to a floor vote.
Correction: This story previously stated that the crowd sang “This Land is Your Land” during the vote call. That was sung before the committee hearing. “Jesus Loves the Little Children” was sung during the vote.
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