Tennessee Republicans have led efforts to eliminate immigrant children from public schools and have refused to rule out the possibility that his bill would cause educators to report students to U.S. immigration authorities.
Senator Bo Watson, a Republican from Hixon, has the same Laws requiring immigration status checks Of all students in each of the 1700+ K-12 public schools and charter schools in Tennessee.
The district has the option of denying children or charging family tuition without legal status access to education.
The language of the bill does not include the requirement that schools report students who have no legal status in the U.S. Immigration Customs Enforcement (ICE), but Watson told lawmakers Tuesday that it is “something to be considered in rules and regulations.”
The outlook was immediately pushed back by Sen. London Lamar, a Memphis Democrat.
“I think it sets a dangerous precedent in our schools, where people go to school and are protected, and now children become obsessed with ice officials if they can’t provide the right documentation.”
“I think it sets a dangerous precedent for our schools,” said Sen. London Lamar, a Memphis Democrat. (Photo: John Partipilo/Tennessee Lookout)
Members of the committee voted 7-4 to approve the measure, with two Republicans taking part in order to vote “no” for Democrats. Tuesday’s vote was the last stop on the Senate bill, before heading for a full vote on the floor.
The bill has not yet settled with the home counterparts, so students can choose not to ask students about immigration status, exclude children, or charge tuition fees, rather than a mission.
A statement by the Tennessee Union of Immigration and Refugee Rights calls the bill’s progress “a troubling step towards exclusion policies that undermine the fundamental principles of the public education system and the principles of equality and access.”
Test Case
If enacted, Tennessee will be the only state in the country to deny students without legal status the right to public schooling.
Texas, Indiana, Idaho and Ohio are considering similar school exclusion policies, but Tennessee is the only state where the bill is actively moving through Congress, according to the National Center for Immigration Law.
The bill has often led to large and large protests as it passes the legislative process, but Tuesday’s meeting elicited smaller and more calmer voter turnout.
One protester, 80-year-old Lynn McFarland, was taken from the Capitol by state police after refusing to leave on his own initiative.
Tennessee’s GOP bill targets public school education for immigrant children without legal status
Republican supporters of the bill were Plylerv, a 1982 Supreme Court case that established that all children had constitutionally protected rights to public school education regardless of their immigration status. He says he hopes it will serve as a test case to overturn Doe.
Watson on Tuesday said the law was needed to address rising costs of illegal immigration for Tennessee taxpayers, including a sharp rise in state spending on English Learners (ELL) orders since 2016.
“The proposition is that we continue to increase exponentially the funding we provide for ELL education, and we have long felt that we need to impose conversations on our citizens with ELL funding,” Watson said.
“Although ELL incorporates both documented and undocumented students, it’s difficult or impossible to bully the difference between the two. I at least correlate ELL funding as a correlation of what could arise within the undocumented community,” he said.
Sen. Jeff Yarbro, a Democrat, said 80% of English learners in the Nashville area are U.S. citizens or legal residents. Yarbro argued that eliminating children without legal status would have little to help reduce ELL costs.
What is the long-term cost of having a group of people who are illiterate and create a long-term lower class in society at the state’s direction? It tends to not work well.
– Senator Jeff Yarbro, D-Nashville
Tennessee schools will also continue to receive consistent funding even if immigrant children are fired. Bill Lee’s School Voucher Bill, enacted earlier this year, guarantees steady funding for schools experiencing a decline in registration.
Instead, Yarbro said the state could bear greater costs by preventing children from going to school.
“In state direction, what is the long-term cost of having a group of people who are illiterate and create a long-term lower class in society,” he said. “It tends to not work well.”
A financial analysis of the bill said it could put more than $1 billion in federal education funding to the state for violating federal civil rights laws.
“People, human, become 6 or 7 only once.”
Yarbro questioned why Republican lawmakers didn’t focus on enacting laws that would punish employers who rely on migrant workers if the bill’s purpose was to reduce illegal immigration.
“Instead, we’re in this law that punishes children. Children. Regardless of what you’re thinking here, it’s certainly not a 6- or 7-year-old mistake,” he said. “People, humans, only once will be 6 or 7.”
GOP bill that will allow Tennessee schools to refuse education for immigrant children
Yarbro also questioned the financial costs of requiring school staff to verify immigration documents for all students, noting that the complexity of immigration law could prove challenging for local schools.
“It would be very expensive when you talk to the district and consider the implications of converting all 1800 public schools into an institution that reviews the citizenship situation of all students each year,” he said.
However, Watson noted that the district has already required parents and guardians to prepare documents as a registration requirement.
“We believe they are already seeking this information and we believe the costs are insignificant,” he said.
The House version of the bill, sponsored by Portland Republican leader William Lamberth, will be heard in the House Government Steering Committee. No House hearing dates or Senate floor voting have been set yet.
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