Tennessee will be the first state to pilot the White House’s immigration agenda, which focuses on increasing verification for legal residents and requiring local law enforcement to work with Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
Republican leadership in the statehouse collaborated with U.S. Homeland Security Advisor Stephen Miller and the Justice Department to craft the legislation.
Tennessee House Speaker Cameron Sexton, R-Crossville, announced Thursday that the package would require local law enforcement in the state to partner with ICE under the 287(g) program, among other policies. Sexton said the rule would close a loophole to Tennessee’s ban on sanctuary city policies.
“Nashville is saying, ‘We’re not working with ICE. … We can’t be a sanctuary city, but we can house them here.’ So, they’re using their ability not to have to work with the federal government … (to) turn a blind eye,” Sexton said.
The package would also require someone to prove their immigration status if they want to apply for benefits, buy a car or work certain jobs.
“We’re not spending taxpayer dollars on you unless you’re in jail,” Sexton said.
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Some policies, like making it a crime to live in Tennessee without legal status, would not change much of life for the state’s immigrant communities, said Lisa Sherman Luna with the Tennessee Immigrant and Refugee Rights Coalition.
“States have no business in making laws around immigration. That is strictly a role of the federal government,” Sherman Luna said. “Immigrant families already face so many barriers in a place like Tennessee. Over the last few decades, so many laws have been passed that make life harder.”
A bill to end the right to a K-12 education for students, regardless of legal status, will be back this year, but lawmakers said they are still waiting on a green light from the federal government.
A state review found the bill could’ve jeopardized more than $1 billion in federal education funding if enacted, as it violates the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Given the potential loss, House leadership paused consideration of the bill after it passed the Senate last year and wrote to the U.S. Department of Education for guidance.
“That’s the biggest question remaining,” said Sen. Bo Watson, R-Hixon, who sponsored the bill. “We’re still waiting on the Department of Education at the federal level to send us some guidance from them on what that looks like on funding.”
Requiring schools to verify immigration status will add a host of costs and bureaucratic red tape, Sherman Luna said.
“We need educators focused on the lesson plans of the week, not on becoming ICE agents,” Sherman Luna said.
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