This story has been updated.

Tennessee Republican leaders have reportedly stated that the U.S. Supreme Court has a proposed law aimed at denying immigrant children who do not have equal access to public education without legal permanent status. We have turned to overturning the 40-year-old example.

Tennessee majority leader William Lambers and state Sen. Bo Watson, a Republican Hixon, on Tuesday. The bill has been announced This allows school districts and charter schools to “opt-out” from registering students who lack permanent legal status.

a Individual invoices From Rep. Gino Bruso of Brentwood and Sen. Joey Hensley of Hohenwald, both Republicans require parents of children without legal status to pay public school tuition and fees. Who has to pay?

Governor Bill Lee Universal School Voucher Method Private school vouchers paid to the Tennessee family in taxpayer dollars specifically exclude children without legal immigration status.

Tennessee Legislature is heading for hundreds of millions of private vouchers

The proposal has attracted criticism from Democrats and supporters who say that denial of children is a cruel and myopia calculation that doesn’t take into account the economic and community contributions of Tennessee immigrants.

An estimated 10,000 children and 120,000 adults without legal immigration status live, work, and attend schools in Tennessee. According to an analysis of federal data By the Institute for Immigration Policy.

“Tennessee families come in all shapes and sizes. I think it’s very cruel to punish a child. We’re talking about children who are high up from kindergarten. Memphis Democrats who moved to Tennessee as children. Member Rep. Gabby Salinas said.

“These bills cost human costs,” she said. “They’re not just numbers. They’re trying to hurt their kids in the end.”

The policy proposal is Plylerv. It is in direct conflict with the 1982 US Supreme Court landmark decision in Doe. This concludes that exclusion of children in public schools due to immigration circumstances is unconstitutional and violates the Equal Protection Clause of the 14th Amendment.

Republican supporters of the measure say that’s the point.

“Because our education system has limited resources, students who are legally present in the country should prioritize,” Watson said, excluding children as “a challenge to Plylerv. Doe.” He said in a news release announcing the bill that would allow options. . ”

Tennessee Republicans last week established the state’s Immigration Enforcement Bureau to work with the Trump administration, creating clear driver’s licenses for non-citizens, and local elected officials who vote in favor of sanctuary policies. approved a law that imposes felony charges on the law.

Lamberth said immigrants who live in the country without legal permission “put huge drains in American taxes and resources.” Our school is first to feel an impact. ”

Tennessee House passes immigration enforcement bill. The ACLU is planning legal challenges

National immigration experts said the Tennessee proposal reflects wider pushes from several conservative groups to overturn court rulings.

That long-standing effort was supported last year by the election of President Donald Trump, who was led a new life by the influential, conservative think tank, and pledged to exile on a massive scale. Since taking office, Trump has also lifted years of protections in “sensitive” areas such as schools from immigration enforcement measures.

Heritage Foundation I was urged by the state in 2024 Collect immigration status data on public school children to pass the law and charge tuition fees for children without legal immigration status.

“Since the Supreme Court decided on Pryler in 1982, there have been repeated attempts to reverse the decision or override its primary holdings,” said Will Dempster, a spokesman for the National Center for Immigration Law. I mentioned it.

“The driving force these days is the recognition of the right-wing forces that there may be opportunities to try again, especially as state legislatures have become an unprecedented anti-immigrant,” he said. “Heritage (Foundation) is actually a home-oriented guide, and last year they expanded their formal playbooks. We’ve seen states around the country trying to take this up.”

Dempster noted that efforts are underway in Texas, Louisiana and Oklahoma, Indiana, at the state and school board levels to establish policies that identify or exclude children based on legal status. .

Tennessee’s proposed law requires tuition payments and allows local districts to eliminate certain children based on immigration status, violating Pryler’s ruling, Dempsey said. .

“Tennessee keeps the phone in mind”: Lee advances immigration agenda in special session

The US Supreme Court concluded that rejecting certain children would create permanent lower classes that are opposed to the nation’s establishment principles.

The exclusion of some immigrant children from public schools “shows the most challenging issue for countries that take pride in their compliance with the principles of equality under the law,” the ruling said. .

Lee’s universal school voucher proposal to exclude immigrant families without legal status presents a legal “gray area” that challenges Pryler’s ruling, and the Niskanen Centre, a nonpartisan think tank. said senior lawyer Zachary Norris.

“The voucher plan raises some interesting legal questions,” he said. “There are differences in the proposed bill (to charge tuition or exclude students), which we consider to be a direct challenge to the Pryler. The voucher is nibbling at the edge of the Pryler. It’s like that.”

The state is not obligated to provide so-called “additional” educational services beyond its core educational responsibility. Advocates of the governor’s voucher bill can argue that it is a central aid for public school services, but the measure has “a two-tier system – the very outcome that Pryler tried to prevent.” It could also help you create it.

“Choice vouchers are like being legally in grey territory, especially since they’re singled with undocumented students,” he said.

The Tennessee Union of Immigrants and Refugees has advocated on behalf of immigrants throughout the state, pledging to fight for equal access to public education and to “extreme” entitled to children based on immigrant status. They called for measures to eliminate it as a “partisan attack.”

“Tennessees from Memphis to Mountain City rely on public schools to provide the strong foundations our children need to grow and thrive. We are committed to the freedom of education, The freedom of learning has made it clear that the Supreme Court belongs to us all regardless of our skin color, so their right to education is protected and protected. Knowing that, I send them to school every day. Lisa Sharman Luna, executive director of the Union, said:

“But now certain politicians are trying to incorporate that freedom from students based on how they came with the person who came to invite Tennessee to their home,” she said. “Imagine your parents have to tell their kids they can’t go to school. Imagine your child asking why their teammates aren’t playing with them. That’s what we’re saying. Not Tennessee, we believe in. With members and educators throughout the state, we fight for the freedom of learning for our children and for the vision of Tennessee where everyone can belong.”