A broad Tennessee immigration bill could make it unlawful for local officials to adopt sanctuary city policies and create temporary driver’s licenses for non-citizens.
Senate Bill 6002 and House Bill 6001 passed both parts of the state assembly on Thursday afternoon after a fast special session called by Governor Bill Lee.
The controversial bill makes it a Class E crime for an official to support a sanctuary policy that restricts working with federal immigration authorities. It also gets rid of any officials who have been found guilty.
President Donald Trump is focusing on sanctuary cities like New York and Chicago. In these places, officials do not ask about people’s immigration status or inform authorities about them. Trump is trying to keep his promise of mass deportations.
The Tennessee bill would require the Department of Public Safety to give temporary driver’s cards to legal permanent residents and others who are allowed to be in the U.S. but are not citizens, to check if they can vote. They are eligible for regular driver’s licenses.
People who show a driver’s license from a state that gives licenses to undocumented immigrants must also provide proof of citizenship or legal status to get a license in Tennessee.
The bill also creates a “immigration enforcement grant program” to incentivize local governments to work with the U.S. Attorney General’s Office to police federal immigration laws.
The ACLU, a group that fights for civil rights, said it will go to court to question the law as soon as it is signed.
“Threatening officials with felony charges and criminal prosecution based solely on how they vote raises significant constitutional concerns,” the group said in a statement. “This strict law goes against basic American values of democracy and fairness, and we must challenge it in court.”
Democratic Rep. Justin Pearson from Memphis said that the plan creates a “dangerous example.”
“This law aims to use the government to overpower local leaders and ignore their right to govern based on their own beliefs,” he said during the special session. “This is authoritarian, this is wrong, and the actions that we are being asked to take are immoral.”
Republican Representative William Lamberth from Portland mentioned the deaths of Laken Riley and others who were killed by illegal aliens to support the bill.
“We will not have sanctuary cities in this state,” he said. “It won’t happen here in Tennessee, and our people will not be harmed by illegal immigrants.”
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