Members of a Tennessee House committee discuss creation of immigration legislation on January 29, 2025. (Photo: John Partipilo)
Tennessee House Republicans voted overwhelmingly in favor of sweeping immigration legislation Thursday, creating a new state enforcement office, providing grants to law enforcement, creating distinct licenses for noncitizens and making it a felony for public officials to back sanctuary policies.
Thursday’s vote came a day after Republicans in the Senate approved Gov. Bill Lee’s immigration enforcement package, which becomes law with his signature. No Democrat in either chamber of the Tennessee Legislature voted in favor of the bill.
The bill’s passage came despite concerns over the constitutionality of a provision creating a Class E felony, punishable by up to 6 years in prison and a $3,000 fine, for any public official who votes in favor of so-called sanctuary policies.
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The Legislature’s own attorneys advised lawmakers that the measure was “constitutionally suspect.” Within an hour of the House vote, the ACLU of Tennessee announced they would be bringing a legal challenge to the measure.
“This authoritarian legislation is incompatible with the bedrock American values of democracy and the rule of law, and we have no choice but to challenge it in court,” read an emailed statement from Stella Yarborough, ACLU of Tennessee legal director.
On the House floor, House Majority Leader William Lamberth defended the criminal penalties against angry accusations from Democratic colleagues, who described the provision, variously, as “constitutionally insane,” “dangerous precedent,” “immoral” and “authoritarian.”
“Easiest crime in the world to avoid. Just don’t vote in favor of sanctuary cities,” Lamberth said.
His voice rising, Lamberth said: “From this day forward let it go forth, do not set up sanctuary cities in our state. We are not a sanctuary to illegal immigrants from across the world that try to come to this state.”
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Under Tennessee law, sanctuary policies are defined as those that prohibit communication with federal officials to “verify or report immigration status of any alien” or grant undocumented immigrants the “right to lawful presence within the boundaries of this state.”
A 2018 Tennessee law already bars local government from enacting sanctuary policies.
Lamberth said that law – which gives citizens the right to file civil suits challenging any jurisdiction’s adoption of sanctuary policies and the state the power to withhold funding over violations – did not go far enough.
“Unfortunately that statute at the state level…does not have any teeth in it,” Lamberth said.
The felony charge would apply to any public official who votes in favor of a sanctuary law, policy or resolution. Lamberth noted it would apply to city councils, county commissions, school boards and city and county mayors.
The bill will also create separate and temporary driver’s licenses with “visually distinctive markers” for non-citizens. Non-citizens such as green card holders have, until now, been able to obtain the same Tennessee licenses and IDs as citizens.
Tennessee’s immigration enforcement division would be confidential
The measure would also create a four-person state immigration enforcement division, housed within the Tennessee Department of Safety & Homeland Security, to liaise with the Trump administration and oversee the distribution of state immigration enforcement grants to local law enforcement. The division will be funded by approximately $500,000 from state taxpayers annually.
An amendment added to the bill this week keeps the work of the office confidential, creating a new exemption to the state’s public records law for all records collected by the division confidential. The exemption is not limited to confidential information it receives from federal, state and local entities.
Republican lawmakers allocated $5 million in grants, distributed by the immigration division, to county sheriffs and police departments that agree to participate in the federal 287(g) program, which allows local police and sheriff deputies to enforce federal immigration laws.
Thus far, only two Tennessee jurisdictions – Greene and Knox County – participate in the 287(g) program.
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