NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WTVF) — Tennessee Republicans propose sweeping immigration legislation requiring ICE cooperation and legal status verification.
Tennessee Republican lawmakers announced plans to file at least eight bills targeting illegal immigration, requiring all levels of government to cooperate with federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials.
The legislative package, developed in partnership with the Trump administration and top advisor Stephen Miler, would mandate cooperation from courts, district attorneys, and local governments that currently have the option to work with ICE. "We're sending a very strong message today with this legislative package that in Tennessee, we want to be a model for the nation," Sen. Jack Johnson said.
Criminal penalties for undocumented presence
House Majority Leader William Lamberth said another initiative seeks to make it a misdemeanor violation to be a noncitizen in the state. Once a person has a final deportation order, they must leave, he said.
Mandatory verification requirements
Under the proposed legislation, all local and state governments would be required to verify legal status for new hires. Currently, this verification is optional.
The state would also need to verify someone's legal status when they apply for professional licenses or vehicle registration. "That was a loophole that allowed illegals to have cars and have registration. We're working to close that," Speaker Cameron Sexton said.
Driver's license changes
The bills would change Tennessee's driver's license test to English only, with one exception for people holding work visas. Those individuals could take the test in another language for a 12-month period before being required to retake it in English.
The legislation would also prevent recognition of out-of-state commercial driver's licenses issued to undocumented immigrants. "If our law enforcement has any contact with an illegal with a CDL, ICE will be engaged," Rep. Jason Zachary said.
School and benefit verification
Republicans want to count undocumented students in public schools and require verification of legal status before someone receives public benefits. "At the end of the day, taxpayer money should go those who are here legally and lawfully, period," Sexton said.
Financial penalties for non-compliance
Local governments that fail to comply with the requirements or don't report issues to ICE could lose their shared sales tax revenue allotment.
When asked about the fairness of punishing local governments that may lack manpower to comply, Sexton said the state would be held to the same standards. "Some of the things that we're requiring they're doing, the state's not doing, so we're requiring the state. But we're asking no less of the locals than what the state has to do," Sexton said.
Additional components
There are some additional requests, according to Tennesee Republicans, included in the legislation they're filing. They are requesting quarterly reports from state agencies on unverifiable immigration status encounters, monthly reporting on non-citizens receiving public benefits, an annual comprehensive report on total costs to taxpayers and fingerprinting and DNA collection requirements for offenders.
Lawmakers are also hoping to enhance 287(g) agreements with local law enforcmeent agencies, but didn't have details on how that would work by the time they held the news conference.
Next steps
Republican leaders have not provided cost estimates for implementing the legislation. The bills remain proposals that must go through multiple debates and receive Governor Bill Lee's signature before becoming law.
The Tennessee Immigrant and Refugee Rights Coalition held a news conference shortly after the legislation was announced. They say the immigration bills are a distraction.
Democrats slammed the legislation package. "The supermajority is pushing this Stephen-Miller led agenda to distract from their failures of leadership. Since Republicans took control of state government in 2011, our tax dollars are being enjoyed in boardrooms across the world, rather than in living rooms here in Tennessee. Our tax dollars are subsidizing summer food programs and health coverage in other states while our children go hungry, rural hospitals are shuttered and unemployment rates spike. In addition to gifting billions to out-of-state corporations and awarding no-bid contracts, Republicans just created the single largest welfare program in the last 50 years and now want to remove the spending cap from that voucher scam. Their fiscal recklessness and failures are literally killing Tennesseans, destroying local economies and delivering devastating blows to middle class families," wrote Rep. John Ray Clemmons, the House Democratic Caucus Chair, in an emailed statement.
Do you have more information about this story? You can email me at Chris.Davis@NewsChannel5.com.
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