Tennessee House panels expedite immigration bills

Dozens of people crowded into a House committee room on Tuesday to protest a pair of anti-immigration bills. (Photo: John Partipilo/Tennessee Lookout)

Despite a constant uproar, Republican lawmakers moved legislation Tuesday that could punish local governments for not enforcing federal immigration law and require schools to make a head count of students without legal documentation.

House Bill 1711, sponsored by Republican Rep. Elaine Davis of Knoxville, and House Bill 2219, sponsored by Rep. Johnny Garrett of Goodlettsville, both passed the House Departments and Agencies Subcommittee on 6-2 votes, both along party lines. They go next to the House State and Local Government Committee.

The bills are part of Republicans’ “Immigration 2026” package, developed with the help of White House deputy chief of staff Stephen Miller as part of a national immigration crackdown.

A throng of people supporting immigrants packed the meeting room and the hallway. Some sang songs in support of immigrants, and some were removed for disrupting the meeting.

Garrett’s bill would cut local governments’ share of state sales taxes if they refuse to participate in a 287(g) program with the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency that delegates federal immigration authority to city and county law enforcement officers. Some counties such as Davidson don’t participate in the program.

Davis’ bill would require local law enforcement to make federal and state reports on criminal activity by people without legal documentation and force public schools to keep track of students’ immigration status. The latter requirement could conflict with Plyler v. Doe, a U.S. Supreme Court ruling that prohibits discrimination in enrolling students. 

The measure also would require reports on undocumented immigrants who attend state colleges or go to prisons, hospitals and places that provide social services. Violations would be a Class A misdemeanor.

“This allows for an active law enforcement pipeline and penalized failure to report violations,” Davis said. “Tennessee lacks a comprehensive accounting system, and so we don’t know the fiscal impact of illegal immigration.”

Davis acknowledged a head count wouldn’t be required if the bill jeopardizes $1.1 billion in federal funding for violating the law. Republicans tried to pass a law last year that could have stopped immigrant students from enrolling or made them pay tuition, but it stalled because of the possibility Tennessee could lose those federal funds.

Democratic Rep. Jesse Chism challenged the legislation, saying he felt it could put people’s lives in danger.

“My fear is people will die because they’re afraid of going to hospitals,” he said. Chism added that he felt it would be “hypocritical” for the state to conduct surveillance on people seeking the social services it claims to provide to everyone.

Davis responded by saying, “we are a nation of laws,” the state is responsible for making sure “we’re not ripping each other off.”

Chism agreed but argued that the state should have “laws in favor of humanity.” He pointed out that slavery and Jim Crow laws were legal during periods in the nation’s history.

Garrett, a candidate for Tennessee’s 6th Congressional District seat, said he considers the law enforcement bill of “paramount” importance and incorrectly claimed that undocumented immigrants committed half the crimes in the state last year.

The District Attorneys General Conference report shows local law enforcement submitted 11,344 reports detailing undocumented immigrants charged with or convicted of 21,648 criminal offenses.

More than 9,200 of those offenses dealt with traffic violations, driving without a license or driving on a suspended or revoked license. Some 2,183 of those were for violent offenses, including 41 on murder charges.

Garrett, though, said those people committed half of the total crimes in the state last year, contradicting the state’s own 2023 figures that show a much higher rate, 44,440 violent crimes overall and 168,000 property crimes. Undocumented immigrants committed about 5% of the state’s violent crimes that year.

Chism accused Garrett of exaggerating the facts, and Democratic Rep. Larry Miller of Memphis called Garrett’s claims “BS.”

“So you are willing to punish U.S. citizens in Tennessee based on what their elected officials may not do?” Miller added.

Garrett alluded to the actions of the Memphis Safe Task Force, a collection of multiple local, state and federal agencies ordered by the Trump administration, and said elected leaders in Shelby County “want to make sure this is a law-and-order state.”

Cesar Bautista, a spokesman for Tennessee Immigrant and Refugee Rights Coalition Votes, said the bills isolate and discriminate against immigrants.

“They’re just following an agenda from the White House,” he said. “It’s not something Tennesseans are wanting.”