Gov. Bill Lee said he was “The Illegal Immigration Agenda for a special legislative meeting focusing on controversial private school voucher proposals and disaster relief for counties struggling to recover from Hurricane Helen. It surprised many people when they inserted it into the declaration.

Lee’s declarationreleased three days before President Donald Trump’s inauguration, aimed at being “ready to help President Trump implement his immigration enforcement agenda.” Press the announcement I said.

National immigration policy experts say Lee’s five-point immigration plan: 2023 Texas Sweep Detaining and deporting immigrants appears to be even more advanced than any other non-state to assert state power over immigration enforcement.

Tennessee Democrats have questioned the timing and content of the proposal, and will be discussed along with the school’s voucher plan that has been revived after failing last year’s pass. Democrats said the singular focus of the special session should be disaster relief to Northeast Tennessee County, which was devastated by Hurricane Helen four months ago.

“This whole immigrant has been thrown here in an attempt to distract us from the voucher fraud,” Nashville Democrat John Ray Clemons said Friday.

“At the last minute, he threw out some extremist lean meat,” Clemons said.

“Get ready,” Nashville leaders warn immigrant communities about the looming crackdown

However, Tennessee’s Republican leaders have accepted the governor’s proposed law as a necessary supplement to Trump’s crackdown on national immigration.

“When President Trump takes office, we in Tennessee want to make sure we do everything we can to cooperate with those efforts,” said Portland Republican House leader William Lambers. It’s there.

“We want to make sure we’re in direct contact with the Trump administration and make sure this goes smoothly, he told the observation deck on Friday.

Lee said Trump “has made it clear that the nation will play a major role in enforcing immigration laws and partnering with his administration to keep the community safe.”

Lee’s “Agenda for Illegal Immigration”

Lee’s plans include creating a state’s immigration enforcement unit led by the new Tennessee Chief Immigration Manager, reflecting similarities. Florida Governor Ron DeSantis’s ongoing efforts Appoints state communications to work with the Trump administration on immigration enforcement.

The office will be housed in the Department of Security & Homeland Security in Tennessee and strive to “ensure efficient resource allocation and effective enforcement of immigration laws.” The Governor’s announcement said.

The office’s responsibilities include “developing a strategic immigration enforcement plan” and “coordinating participation in federal immigration programs.”

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Currently, only two Tennessee jurisdictions, Greene and Knox counties, are participating in the 287(g) program.

The plan also includes “visual features” on Tennessee IDs and driver’s licenses issued to all non-citizens as part of an effort aimed at “raising the standard” for state issuance identification. We are also looking for a “marker” to be added. Legal permanent residents, such as those who currently own a green card, may obtain the same license as US citizens.

This plan exercises both carrots and sticks.

Local law enforcement agencies agreeing to enforce US immigration laws are financed to join training personnel and postpone the frequently expensive costs of opening detention spaces for arresting immigration violations. They line up for grants.

The proposed law does not yet include budget estimates for grants.

Meanwhile, city and county officials who vote in favor of the so-called “sanctuary city” status could be charged with a Class E felony and be excluded from their duties. That’s the city of sanctuary Already prohibited under Tennessee law of 2019.

Lamberth, who is responsible for Lee’s immigration measures in the House, said he believes that some of the proposed laws are temporary.

“We expect these jobs to be there for several years until we get through this illegal immigration crisis, and those positions will probably disappear,” he said.

A formal financial analysis of the total cost of the proposal has not yet been completed by the state’s Financial Review Office.

“A large part of our workforce.”

There are approximately 150,000 undocumented immigrants living in Tennessee. It is about 100,000 years of age and over 16 and is actively involved in the state workforce. Analysis of American Community Survey Data by the Institute for Immigration Policy A nonpartisan think tank.

The figures do not cover immigrants with certain temporary legal positions that will be revoked by the Trump administration, announced last week.

Massive federal detention and deportation of Tennessee immigrants – with state assistance, not only destroying affected families, but also crippling the economic sector that relies heavily on migrant workers. and Lisa Sherman Luna, executive director, executive director; Tennessee Union of Immigrants and Refugee Rights.

It’s official: Tennessee Governor Couples School Vouchers, Special Session Immigration

“Immigrants are not only contributors to our state, they pay taxes – they are also a large part of our workforce. So, they work farms and put food on the tables. If no one can do it, everyone feels it, she said.

However, Lamberth challenged the notion that Tennessee employers rely on an undocumented migrant workforce.

The majority of businesses he knows in Tennessee take pride in hiring US citizens or legal immigrants, Lambers said.

“If people are hiring illegal immigrants, they are not dealing with those workers because they are in violation of the laws we have already set and should be treated in terms of pay or employee rights. We can effectively guarantee that this,” he said. “I don’t know how many people are doing that, but no one should be.”

“If Tennessee passes this, it’s an outlier.”

Critics of Lee’s immigration programme have also called it an unnecessary overlap of existing state law.

Lee’s proposal would make it a Class E felony for local civil servants to vote in favour of Sanctuary City status. The bill also gives the Tennessee Attorney General the power to launch a lawsuit to eliminate local officials who have entrusted the efforts of the sanctuary city.

In 2018, Tennessee banned local governments from adopting the status of sanctuary city. This took the measures that came into effect in 2019. The designation generally limits local cooperation with federal immigration enforcement, except for individuals who have committed serious crimes. Since then, the city of Tennessee or the county have not tried to vote in favor of the Sanctuary City status.

And a Tennessee law not published in 2024 Already, all local law enforcement agencies in Tennessee have requested that they confirm and report the status of immigration of all arrested people to the federal government. At the request of US immigration customs enforcement, law enforcement must retain individuals for up to 48 hours.

“The Tennessee region needs to work with the federal government in terms of complying with existing federal immigration laws,” Luna said.

Questions are rising over the mix of Tennessee Governor’s Special Session School voucher and storm relief

The state’s centralized immigration enforcement division proposed by Lee has attracted criticism from national immigration advocates.

Immigration enforcement is purely the federal government’s responsibility, said Matt Lopas, deputy director of state advocacy at the National Center for Immigration Law, which represents immigration rights.

“This is a very extreme proposal,” Ropas said. “I don’t know of any other states that have passed such laws, and if Tennessee passes this, it will be an outlier,” he said.

Tennessee’s special legislative session is expected to last at least a week when the body returns to normal business. Lee’s proposal is the only immigration-related bill to be considered during the special session, but once it is finished, some additional bills will be heard.

Among these measures that require undocumented families to pay tuition at public K-12 schools, the requirement for receiving Medicaid Hospital reporting patient immigration status, banking institutions overseas funding There is a rule that you must check the immigration status of customers sending them.