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Tennessee Republicans have advanced a pair of bills requiring county sheriffs to more closely cooperate with Immigration and Customs Enforcement. 

A bill (SB1486/HB2018)  by Sen. Brent Taylor of Memphis and Rep. Mark Cochran of Englewood — both Republicans — requires Tennessee sheriffs to hold inmates sought by immigration agents for at least 48 hours beyond their normal release date. It was approved in the Tennessee Senate Tuesday on a party-line 27-5 vote and now awaits a signature from Gov. Bill Lee

The bill applies only to sheriffs’ departments that have entered into so-called 287(g) agreements with the federal government to enforce immigration law. 

About half of all Tennessee sheriffs entered the program this year amid a push by the Trump administration to broaden immigration enforcement activities across the country.

Tennessee immigration enforcement division distributes nearly $900,000 in law enforcement grants

However, a separate bill (SB2223/HB 2219) by two Republicans — House Majority Leader Jack Johnson of Franklin and Rep. Johnny Garrett of Goodlettsville — requires all other sheriffs’ departments to enter into the federal immigration enforcement agreements or risk loss of state funding. The bill is expected to be considered in a legislative committee in the coming week.

Despite urging by Tennessee Republican leaders, who set aside $5 million in state funding to assist sheriff and police departments with added immigration enforcement responsibilities, dozens of sheriffs across the state have thus far declined to enter the 287(g) agreements, which have proven costly to local law enforcement departments across the nation. 

Sen. Jeff Yarbro, a Nashville Democrat, noted the original version of the bill requiring counties to detain immigrant inmates beyond their release date applied to all sheriffs before its $5.4 million annual fiscal estimate prompted the bill’s sponsors to amend the legislation to apply only to existing sheriffs with 287(g) agreements.

If the bill mandating 287(g) agreements by remaining Tennessee sheriffs is approved, counties will be forced to foot a hefty bill, he noted.

“The consequence of our action is still shifting about $5 million of uncompensated costs to the local governments,” Yarbro said. Local law enforcement agencies incur expenses related to housing immigrant detainees in local jails, purchasing equipment and, in some instances, the cost of defending litigation for wrongful detentions that have arisen in the past over detentions for the federal government.

Taylor, the measure’s sponsor, declined to speculate on the financial burden his bill could impose on counties if the legislature also adopts making 287(g) programs mandatory.

“What we do in a separate bill going forward has nothing to do with this bill,” he said. 

Republican leaders have urged sheriffs, and other local law enforcement agencies, to enter agreements with the federal government to enforce immigration laws. Last year, the legislature created a new state department — the Centralized Immigration Enforcement Division — and charged it with distributing grants to local law enforcement agencies who partnered with the federal government on immigration detentions. 

Thus far, the division has distributed just $900,000 in grants to seven sheriff’s departments. 

The bills are part of the Tennessee Republicans’ “Immigration 2026” agenda, crafted in consultation with White House immigration advisor Stephen Miller. In unveiling the slate of immigration bills, Tennessee House Speaker Cameron Sexton said Tennessee’s immigration-related legislation would serve as a “model for the rest of the nation.”

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