A

Legislation to require Tennessee public schools to check student immigration status and report it to the state education department moved one significant step closer to becoming law after passage Monday in the GOP-dominated House of Representatives.

The bill (HB073/SB0836) by House Majority Leader William Lamberth, a Portland Republican, and  Sen. Bo Watson, a Hixson Republican, drew heated pushback from Democrats on the House floor, who unsuccessfully offered a series of amendments that included “opt out” provisions for parents or school districts. 

Three Republicans — Reps. Jody Barrett of Dickson, Charlie Baum of Murfreesboro and Rep. Michael Hale of Smithville — broke ranks to join Democrats in voting against the measure but did not speak out against it on the House floor.

Lamberth, the bill’s sponsor, batted back criticisms that the measure would harm immigrant children and their families. 

Tennessee Republican ‘Immigration 2026’ agenda bills advance in legislature

“We should never be afraid of data, truth, facts, figures,” he said. “I mean how many illegal immigrant children are in our schools? If the prior president had done his job and not had a border that was porous…we wouldn’t have this problem. Let’s identify the scope of the problem.”

The bill requires all Tennessee K-12 public schools to verify the immigration status of each student, then compile the information in aggregate form to share with the state. 

Lamberth has not publicly addressed any specifics about what state officials might ultimately do with the collected data. “We can take whatever action down the road that this body would choose to take,” he has said previously.

Democrats raised the specter of how data might be ultimately used against immigrant families, including the possibility it could be provided to ICE,  and the burdens placed on school staff tasked with collecting.

“I hope we see what is happening is we’re going to be doxing students (who are) going to be scared to come to school,” said Rep. Justin Pearson, a Memphis Democrat. 

Pearson called the bill “racist,” “vile,” “sickening, “shameful,” and “reprehensible” policy that would force teachers to become ICE agents. 

The Senate has yet to advance the bill, which was revived and amended in the House from last year’s legislative session. 

In its original form, before it was amended, the bill gave school districts the option to disenroll immigrant children who could not provide proof of legal immigration status and the discretion to charge those families tuition. The bill failed in part because Lamberth could not receive assurances from the federal government that $1.1 billion in education funding would continue to flow to Tennessee after its passage.

Tennessee bill creating immigration crime clears first hurdle

Separately, the House advanced a bill, also sponsored by Lamberth, to create a new state crime for immigrants without legal status in Tennessee. 

The measure creates a misdemeanor offense for an individual without permanent legal status to remain in the state more than 90 days after the federal government issued a deportation order. 

“Tennessee is welcome to all legal immigrants that come into this state, but illegal immigrants are not welcome here,” Lamberth said. 

The measure conflicts with the federal government’s sole responsibility to regulate immigration, said Rep. Aftyn Behn, a Nashville Democrat. 

“The legislature is effectively being asked to pass a law that the sponsor already knows is inconsistent with current federal precedent at a time when Tennessee families are worried about the cost of living, the cost of groceries, the potholes that are not being filled and public safety,” she said. 

“I struggle to understand why we would pass legislation that invites costly litigation and asks local police and the courts to take on federal immigration responsibilities,” she said. 

Lamberth responded by citing statistics of violent crimes allegedly committed by immigrants living illegally in the state. 

“I am sick and tired of people coming into this state, this great state of Tennessee illegally, murdering, raping, robbing our citizens and those legal immigrants who came the right way,” he said. “That may not bother you, but it bothers me all the way down to my core. I will not stand for it anymore.”

SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE