A bill being debated in the Tennessee General Assembly would require law enforcement agencies to follow the proper protocol of reporting illegal alien arrestees to federal authorities.
HB 2124 “requires, rather than authorizes, law enforcement agencies to communicate with the appropriate federal official regarding the immigration status of any individual, including reporting knowledge that a particular alien is not lawfully present in the United States or otherwise cooperate with the appropriate federal official in the identification, apprehension, detention, or removal of aliens not lawfully present in the United States.”
As of Thursday, the bill is on the calendar for debate on the House floor.
In some places in Tennessee, it is standard police protocol to alert federal officials if they arrest an illegal alien.
Other places like Nashville are sanctuary cities, and law enforcement is barred from contacting federal law enforcement in such cases. Notably, nearly 600 illegal aliens recently planned to settle in Middle Tennessee after they arrived in the United States and were processed by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), according to the Department of Homeland Security (DHS).
Far-left Democrats like State Representative Justin Pearson (D-Memphis), whose city is already facing a major crime wave, are opposed to enforcing the law.
“We’ve got enough problems. We don’t need to be adding immigration to local law enforcement,” Pearson reportedly said.
State Representative Jason Powell (D-Nashville) was puzzled about how police would determine whether people without legal documentation are, in fact, illegal aliens.
“How do you go about as a law enforcement officer in determining whether you think someone is legal or not legal?” he asked.
State Representative Rusty Grills (R-Newbern) is the bill’s primary sponsor.
“This bill would clarify that all law enforcement including police and sheriff’s departments would be required to fully cooperate and communicate with the Department of Homeland Security,” he said, adding that arrestees ” just have to prove who [they] are” in order to avoid being reported to DHS.
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Pete D’Abrosca is a reporter at The Tennessee Star and The Star News Network. Follow Pete on Twitter/X.
The best way to deter ILLEGALS is to make them work on a chain gang for 2 years!!! They wont think about tn. Who is enforcing the laws now …. no one. North Carolina is a sissy sanctuary state. If they are arrested put em to work until they are ID’d and dealt with properly!
In 2018 the legislature passed a strong and comprehensive anti-sanctuary city bill which applies across the state. The law has economic penalties. The problem as with most of our laws, is that there is no enforcement.
“Other places like Nashville are sanctuary cities, and law enforcement is barred from contacting federal law enforcement in such cases”.
OK, how about the rest of us in the state that live outside the city limits of “Sanctuary cities”,
pass a law that “Illegals” can not live outside the city limits of Sanctuary cities???
Sounds reasonable and fair to me, and just as legal for “MY CHOICE” as it is for “THEIR CHOICE”.
If we’re going to divide the state up, I’m all for East Tennessee Conservatives separating from the liberal Middle/West Tennessee.
After all, when “THEY” want to “EXCLUDE ME” and others, from decisions as to who can/who can’t live in the State,
I think it’s time to either divide/separate or recovery our “Equal Rights” by whatever means is necessary to get the job done.
Who will prosecute the District Attorneys who refuse to enforce the law once passed? There needs to be real sanctions. If Pearson actually stated what is included in the article that local law enforcement already has too much to do to enforce this law, then he is truly not qualified to occupy that office. Many of the offenders are illegal aliens so taking them off the street frees up law enforcement to other duties. If Pearson understood, he should be advocated for increased funding for law enforcement, not only funding for more officers but also funding to incentivize recruitment and retention of law enforcement officers.