It was reported on Thursday that the Legal Clinic operated by the Tennessee Coalition to End Domestic and Sexual Violence (TCEDSV), a taxpayer-funded nonprofit, closed due to a loss of state funding. The nonprofit’s website, which contains both English and Spanish language instructions to visitors, confirms that the Legal Clinic closed on June 30.
While The Tennessee Lookout reported on Thursday that the Legal Clinic served “immigrant crime victims,” a listing of services by the Immigration Advocates Network suggests the legal clinic provided a variety of legal services to illegal immigrants, including those who did not claim to be the victim of a crime.
According to the advocacy network, some of the services provided by TCEDSV’s Legal Clinic illegal immigrants included help for those seeking to adjust their legal status, apply for asylum, or prepare for removal hearings.
Specific forms of aid offered by the Legal Clinic ranged from help completing government paperwork to representation in immigration court.
Not limited to sexual assault victims, or even the victims of crime, the Immigration Advocates Network indicates the Legal Clinic also provided services to, “Individuals who are not in legal immigration status, Individuals with criminal histories, Individuals with physical/mental disabilities,” in addition to those who are survivors of domestic violence or human trafficking.
The nonprofit also published a report titled, “Serving Immigrant Survivors or Survivors with Limited English Proficiency,” which explicitly forbade workers from contacting immigration authorities.
“NEVER contact the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), Citizenship and Immigration Services (CIS), or Customs and Border Protection (CBP) to verify a person’s immigration status,” advised the TCEDSV report. Instead, it instructed, “Contact an immigration attorney or the Tennessee Coalition’s Immigrant Legal Clinic so you don’t put an individual survivor in jeopardy of being deported.”
According to the TCEDSV website, it is funded through an agreement with the Tennessee’s Office of Criminal Justice Programs (OCJP). The Lookout reported the Legal Clinic closed following a change by OCJP to how federal funds are distributed within the Volunteer state under the Trump administration.
The group previously faced controversy after The Tennessee Star published photographs showing TCEDSV hosted a drag queen during an event in 2019.
In two reports published by TCEDSV to offer guidance on providing services to LGBTQ individuals, the nonprofit specifically states that biologically male individuals who identify as transgender women should be allowed access to women’s shelters.
“Trans people face many dangers, including interactions with transphobic individuals, widespread cultural beliefs that shelters only serve women, and the common practice of agencies only accepting non-trans women into shelter,” according to one TCEDSV report. “It is the responsibility of the shelters to consider the safety of trans individuals.”
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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 “Tennessee Coalition to End Domestic and Sexual Violence” by Tennessee Coalition to End Domestic and Sexual Violence.
This entity was taxpayer funded and litigated against government. So, the people, the taxpayer, are funding the prosecution, the defense, the hearing officer, bailiffs and the stenographer? This is a cottage industry who essentially stay afloat financially by suing the government.