Tennessee Senate adopts new state immigration crimes

The Tennessee Senate passed legislation Monday creating two new state crimes against undocumented immigrants who don’t follow federal deportation orders, a move likely to face a legal challenge.

The Republican-controlled Senate approved SB1779/HB1704 on a 26-6 vote, sending it to the governor’s office for his signature after the House previously passed it 73-22.

The bill is a linchpin of Republicans’ “Immigration 2026” package, crafted in cooperation with President Donald Trump’s Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller to crack down on immigrants without permanent legal documentation. Yet out of nearly a dozen bills targeting undocumented immigrants, it could prove to be the most problematic legally.

Comparable laws in Texas, Iowa, Louisiana and Oklahoma are tied up in federal court, in part because of a 2012 U.S. Supreme Court ruling in Arizona v. United States, which found states can’t preempt federal immigration law.

Republican Senate Majority Leader Jack Johnson said the bill does not give the state authority to determine whether a person is lawfully present or bypass federal law. It would change state law by creating a criminal charge against someone who receives a federal deportation order, he said.

Asked what would happen without a new law, Johnson said it depends on the president.

“Luckily, we have someone in the White House now who is doing that,” he said.

Responding to further questions, Johnson said he wasn’t aware of other states running into legal problems with similar measures. 

Johnson acknowledged he believes the first portion of the bill can withstand constitutional muster but that the second portion contains a “trigger” mechanism in case the Supreme Court case is reversed.

“It is utterly predictable that we are walking into constitutional litigation,” said Democratic Sen. Jeff Yarbro of Nashville. 

Yarbro added that the state is likely to lose the case, based on the decision by a “conservative” court, because it makes the state responsible for enforcing immigration law.

As amended, the bill’s first section creates a Class A misdemeanor for any adult who refuses or fails to leave the state within 90 days of a final order of removal, once all challenges are exhausted.

A second portion of the bill also sets a Class A misdemeanor for immigrants who try to enter the state when they have an outstanding deportation order, unless the U.S. attorney general gives permission for admission or they were not required to obtain consent under federal law. 

That section would be triggered only if the Supreme Court case Arizona v. United States is overturned, authorizing states to determine whether a person is unlawfully present.

Previously, the Biden administration challenged the three similar laws in Iowa, Oklahoma and Texas. But when President Donald Trump took office in January 2025, the Department of Justice dropped the challenges, and other groups, including the American Civil Liberties Union, took up the litigation.

The political arm of the Tennessee Immigrant and Refugee Rights Coalition said the measure is “confusing” and would be difficult to enforce because no central database is available to track final orders of removal from the country. Additionally, the group said it is “cruel and contrary to Tennessee values,” because some adults were given deportation orders when they were children and had no control over where they were born. 

“When politicians are willing to make their constituents pawns in their political games, we all suffer,” said Lisa Sherman Luna, executive director of TIRRC Votes.