A bill filed in the Tennessee General Assembly would empower Local Educational Agencies (LEA)s and public charter schools to decline to allow illegal immigrants to enroll in their institutions.
Submitted on Tuesday as HB 793 by State House Majority Leader William Lamberth (R-Portland) and SB 836 by State Senator Bo Watson (R-Hixson), the legislation specifically empowers schools to “enroll, or refuse to enroll, a student who is unlawfully present in the United States,” indicating schools will not be required to decline enrollment.
While the legislation would not impose a requirement for schools to decline admission to prospective students who are in the United States illegally, Democrats claimed to Fox 17 the bill is unconstitutional, and Senate Minority leader Raumesh Akbari telling the outlet lawsuits would likely be filed if the legislation ultimately became law.
Akbari likely referred to the 1982 Supreme Court decision, Plyler v Doe, that prohibited Texas from withholding state funding from schools that enrolled children present in the country illegally, ruling the action violated the Equal Protection Clause of the Constitution in a 5-4 decision.
The bill was also submitted on the heels of the successful special legislative session, where in addition to hurricane relief and the Education Freedom Act, lawmakers approved a plan to create a new immigration division of the Tennessee Department of Homeland Security to help President Donald Trump enact his immigration agenda in the Volunteer State.
It also passed legislation to require state identification provided to noncitizens to be visually distinct from diver’s licenses and identification cards provided to American citizens.
Lawmakers have also proposed legislation that would require financial institutions to determine the citizenship status of individuals seeking to send remittances to foreign countries, order the creation of a new system to determine whether prospective voters are citizens, demand law enforcement release illegal immigrants into sanctuary cities, and fine law enforcement agencies for failing to report potential illegal immigrants in their custody to federal authorities.
As the General Assembly considers immigration legislation amid the Trump administration’s efforts to curtail illegal immigration and deport criminal migrants, a Tennessee immigrant group recently vowed to “organize and take action” on the state and federal level.
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Tom Pappert is the lead reporter for The Tennessee Star, and also reports for The Pennsylvania Daily Star and The Arizona Sun Times. Follow Tom on X/Twitter. Email tips to [email protected].
Get them out of Tn and the USA!
Get them outta Tennessee.
Gotta keep those Attorneys working. Introducing an passing legislation that we already know will not pass constitutional muster on the heals of legislation that grows the scope, size and cost of government, is not the work of an organization committed to conducting the people’s business.