Shelby County officials seem to say they won’t cooperate with a new Tennessee law that helps federal officials detain and deport illegal aliens.
The state law took effect Jan. 1, according to The Associated Press.
The law, The AP went on to say, “threatens local governments with the loss of future state economic and community development money” if they have sanctuary policies.
Federal immigration officials have the power to deport illegal aliens arrested on other charges. But some local laws have kept those local law enforcement officers from cooperating with the feds. The new law bans those local policies, according to The AP.
“That includes barring local policies that require federal officials to obtain a warrant or show probable cause beforehand,” The AP said.
As The Tennessee Star reported last fall, county officials, specifically the folks at the county attorney’s office, tell their law enforcement officers to ignore the feds, especially Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
Shelby County Sheriff’s spokesman Anthony Buckner said Wednesday that members of his office already know how they will respond to the new state law.
“The Shelby County Attorney has advised the Sheriff’s Office that the new Tennessee laws governing sanctuary cities/policies do not apply to Shelby County or the Shelby County Sheriff’s Office,” Buckner said in an email to The Star.
“Therefore, the Sheriff’s Office will not detain anyone being released from the jail unless there is a warrant or probable cause to do so. The Sheriff’s Office will continue to honor ICE requests for notifications.”
As reported, members of the Shelby County Attorney’s Office said federal official’s requests that the county detain suspected illegals for up to 48 hours after their scheduled release violate the U.S. Constitution.
They said such requests likely violate the 10th Amendment ban against commandeering of local governments by the feds. Members of the county attorney’s office also say the requests likely violate the Fourth Amendment protection against arrests without probable cause.
Despite this, members of the sheriff’s office have found a loophole. Sheriff’s deputies will release suspected illegal immigrants, but they will notify ICE agents about when, precisely, they’ll release those people.
The AP noted how Tennessee’s Republican-led legislature passed the new law without the signature of outgoing Republican Gov. Bill Haslam.
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Chris Butler is an investigative journalist at The Tennessee Star. Follow Chris on Facebook. Email tips to [email protected].
Background Photo “Shelby County Courthouse” by Thomas Machnitzki. CC BY 3.0.
[…] The Tennessee Star reported last year, Memphis and Shelby County officials have embraced illegal immigrants and are willing to defy state […]
Marlinee Clark Iverson – how many Shelby County citizens will you allow to be murdered at the hands of illegal immigrants before you obey state and federal law?
[…] Leahy: This is Michael Patrick Leahy soon-to-be Speaker Casada. First congratulations on that. Just as a point of clarification in our story today – you’ll note that that statement of failure to comply with the states laws was made by Shelby County Sheriff spokesman, Anthony Buckner in a statement to the Tennessee Star it’s in …. […]
Wow, my wife and I left Vermont to get away from this kind of liberal lunacy!
Since the law was passed and is legal then the state should force Memphis to abide by it. If they refuse arrest them and let them challenge it in court
Believe they should be fired & replaced by runner up in office
Time to tee up Article V impeachments and Article VI Section 6 removals from office of officials who ignore these laws. Is there any leadership in the TGA?
The Constitution of the United States established America’s national government and fundamental laws, and guaranteed certain basic rights for ITS CITIZENS. If they are “illegal aliens” they are not afforded protection under the provisions of The U.S. Constitution!! Wake up Tennessee officials!! You’re contradicting yourselves!!
Not to mention they are more than happy to violate constitutional rights when it comes to asset forfeiture. No warrants, no probable cause, no charges, just theft at the end of a gun and no accountability for the cash they stole. Funny, they use the Feds as their excuse for that “policy”. I guess they follow directions when they want to.