Gov. Bill Lee addressing members of the Tennessee National Guard while on a trip to the Texas-Mexico border in July 2021. Lee has indicated he may use state personnel, including National Guard troops, to aid in the deportation of millions of immigrants.(Photo: tn.gov)
Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee is set to use state personnel, likely National Guard troops and highway patrol officers, to back President-elect Donald Trump’s plan to deport millions of immigrants when he takes office in January 2025.
The Republican governor issued a statement on the social media platform X Monday evening saying, “I have asked key state agencies to begin making preparations & stand ready on Day 1 to support President Trump’s efforts to secure our Nation’s borders & keep communities safe.”
The statement marked the governor’s first confirmation that he is willing to use Tennessee personnel, which could include troops and state officers, to remove undocumented immigrants as part of a national effort by Trump to deport millions of people.
Lee sent the message on the heels of a statement from the Republican Governors Association saying it stands “united” in supporting Trump’s commitment to deal with the “illegal immigration crisis and deporting illegal immigrants who pose a threat to our communities and national security.”
I have asked key state agencies to begin making preparations & stand ready on Day 1 to support President Trump’s efforts to secure our Nation’s borders & keep communities safe.
Read more here: https://t.co/qWl7FJbM2A
— Gov. Bill Lee (@GovBillLee) December 16, 2024
A one-time mass deportation of about 11 million people who lack permanent legal status and 2.3 million more who crossed the U.S. southern border from January 2023 through April 2024 could cost an estimated $315 billion, according to the American Immigration Council.
The Tennessee Immigrant and Refugee Rights Coalition condemned Lee’s commitment, saying such a move would hurt families and the local economy. The group said Lee and 25 Republican governors signed a letter committing to “utilize every tool” at their disposal, which would include state law enforcement and the National Guard.
The immigrant rights group said such a plan has been deemed “disastrous” by business leaders, economists, faith leaders and legal experts.
“Whether fleeing danger or seeking opportunity, immigrants enrich our state and strengthen our communities. Rounding up families is not just a moral disaster, but an economic one, crippling our businesses and agriculture and grinding production to a halt,” the coalition said in a statement. “Further, the state resources wasted on mass deportations could instead provide housing, healthcare and education for Tennessee working families.”
Yet key Republican lawmakers are in the governor’s corner.
In a statement to the Tennessee Lookout, Lt. Gov. Randy McNally said, “The illegal immigration crisis, which has been untenable for many years, exploded under the Biden administration. The voters of our state and our nation have made it clear that they want the crisis resolved and President Trump is committed to resolving it. Activating the National Guard to secure our border and assist with deportations is entirely appropriate. I believe the legislature would and should approve such an effort.”
House Speaker Cameron Sexton told the Lookout this week governors would make decisions with the federal government but added that he supports removal of some immigrants.
“You’ve gotta get illegals who’ve committed crimes in our country out of the country. I don’t care where they are, you’ve gotta get them out,” Sexton said. “I don’t think ICE is big enough to handle all that due to the number of people who’ve come across the border who are criminals and committed crimes.”
While Sexton spoke about immigrants charged with crimes since coming to America, Trump hasn’t always differentiated between that group and other immigrants who make up a large sector of the nation’s workforce.
Trump’s pick for “border czar,” Tom Homan, has said the president-elect made it clear he would prioritize deportation for immigrants who are gang members and considered dangerous, while also saying anyone in the country illegally “shouldn’t feel comfortable.”
Although the Republican Governors Association accused President Joe Biden of failing to secure the border, a report by migrationpolicy.org (https://www.migrationpolicy.org/article/biden-deportation-record) shows the Biden Administration is on track to remove as many people as the Trump Administration, 1.1 million from the start of fiscal 2021 through February 2024, which would match 1.5 million deportations during Trump’s four years of 2016 to 2020.
The report says the Biden Administration also undertook 3 million migrant expulsions during the COVID-19 pandemic era from March 2020 to May 2023 for a total of almost 4.4 million repatriations.
Since the COVID-19 ban on migration ended, the Biden administration increased deportations and removed or returned 775,000 migrants, the most since 2010, according to the migrationpolicy.org article.
Still, Trump has touched on using federal troops to assist in deportation, and Republican governors are showing a willingness to put state troops and officers into the fray.
The immigrant rights coalition said the governor’s statement gives local law enforcement and the National Guard a “rubber stamp” to “overstep their jurisdiction and forcefully detain our neighbors,” which sets a “dangerous precedent for all Tennesseans.”
If illegal immigration is as big a problem in Tennessee as Lee now claims and we have the legal authority to do something about it, then Tennesseans should ask Gov. Lee and this Republican supermajority why the state has failed to do more.
– Rep. John Ray Clemmons, D-Nashville
The coalition’s statement adds the governor is “placing a dark stain on our state” and that it is “ready to defend our communities and protect one another.”
Democratic state Rep. John Ray Clemmons said the governor’s use of “bigoted talking points” is causing hostility toward his constituents. He encouraged the governor to visit his district in South Nashville to see the “thriving” businesses and children studying in local schools.
Clemmons acknowledged that dangerous criminals, gang members and terrorists in the country illegally should be removed. He added that the legislature approved $161 million for the Department of Homeland Security, $110 million to the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation and $18 million to the Military Department for related purposes.
“If illegal immigration is as big a problem in Tennessee as Lee now claims and we have the legal authority to do something about it, then Tennesseans should ask Gov. Lee and this Republican supermajority why the state has failed to do more,” Clemmons said.
Clemmons, though, said he believes the state’s jurisdiction and ability to enforce federal immigration policies could be entangled in “complex legal questions.”
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