The Tennessee State House’s K-12 Subcommittee on Tuesday advanced House Bill (HB) 793 by Majority Leader William Lamberth (R-Portland), which would allow school districts to decline enrollment to those who are in the United States illegally.
Lamberth’s legislation would specifically authorize any Tennessee public or charter school system the option to “enroll, or refuse to enroll, a student who is lawfully present in the United States.”
Out of the subcommittee, HB 793 will now move to the House Education Committee, where it will need to be approved ahead of a full vote in the State House.
Opponents of the legislation argue that denying illegal immigrants the opportunity to attend taxpayer-funded schools is unconstitutional, citing Plyler v. Doe, a 5-4 decision by the U.S. Supreme Court which found in 1982 that such denials violated the Equal Protection Clause of the U.S. Constitution.
According to Aaron Gulbransen, the leader of the Tennessee Conservatives Coalition and a former reporter for The Tennessee Star, Lamberth’s legislation is poised to give Tennessee the opportunity to argue the constitutionality of the law before the Supreme Court, which could lead to a reversal of the 1982 decision.
“This bill is designed to pass the General Assembly and then be handed over to the greatest attorney general in the United States of America, Jonathan Skrmetti, to take it through the legal process, go to the U.S. Supreme Court, and get it overturned,” said Gulbransen during a February appearance on The Michael Patrick Leahy Show.
He told Michael Patrick Leahy, the Editor-in-Chief of The Tennessee Star, “The smartest thing the left could do on this, once it becomes law, is to leave it alone. Don’t sue on it.”
Lamberth’s legislation notably lacks an amendment created for the version of the bill that advanced this week in the Tennessee State Senate, which changed the proposed law to instead allow school districts to charge tuition to illegal immigrants, and otherwise refuse their enrollment.
The amended version in the Senate specifically references the Plyler v. Doe decision, which Gulbransen suggested this week would make an eventual law more likely to survive legal challenges.
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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].
Photo “Back to Schook” by NipponeaseL CC3.0.
Hurray! Now it needs to get passed by the full Assembly. Only way to get this topic to the US Supreme Court. I do not pay taxes to provide benefits to illegals!