The Tennessee Senate on Thursday approved a law that allows churches and charities to sue if they provide housing assistance to immigrants without legal status that continues to commit crimes.
bill(SB227/HB11) elicited an imposed by Senator Brent Taylor of Memphis and Rep. Rusty Grill of New Bern, who claimed it was a violation of their religious freedom and faith-based mission. To care for strangers and everyone in need.
The bill has yet to reach the House floor for the vote.
The bill does not expressly prohibit churches or nonprofits from providing assistance to legal or illegal immigrants, Taylor noted. But organizations that do so intentionally are taking on a “misplaced mission,” he said.
“If you support illegal foreigners and they commit criminal acts, you can be civilly liable,” Taylor said.
“If that’s their wrong mission, we won’t stop them from doing it — they want to bring people in our country illegally and help them establish themselves in our community — they need to better veterinarians and supervise the illegal aliens in the community they bring there.”
Sen. Jeff Yarbro, a Nashville Democrat, noted that the bill changes some of Tennessee’s “Good Samaritans” law, designed to protect individuals and organizations who provide assistance from lawsuits.
“What we’re doing here is that we literally limit the application of the good Samaritan law,” Jablo said.
“We are portrayed in churches like the Catholic Church, which focuses on working with housing and tormented communities, and frankly work with churches and other secular charities across the state.
Taylor’s own pastor, Matt Crawford of Trinity Baptist Church in Cordoba, should refrain from serving individuals without legal status; January sermon It said, “I don’t know the legal status of all those who come to ESL. I don’t think that as a church we are being asked by the police.”
Sermon, FOX13 Memphis Reportedly urged Taylor to go out.
Taylor told the observation deck last month this was his message to the church.
“I remind the church that even heaven has immigration policies,” he said. “You can’t climb the walls of heaven, you can’t let St. Peter slide to the gates of heaven. There are very specific ways to come to heaven to come to heaven. They have a very strict immigration policy.
Legislation targeting non-immigrant nonprofit organizations
The proposed law applies to charities and churches in Tennessee. The church knowingly provides long-term housing assistance to individuals without legal status, including acts of providing assistance in obtaining or signing a lease.
The bill excludes “temporary overnight housing” in particular from liability, such as services provided by homeless shelters. The language of the bill does not give specific exceptions to domestic violence shelters.
Under Tennessee’s personal injury law, most crime victims and their survivors can sue for up to $1 million in non-economic damages and $500,000 in punitive damages to those seeking liability. There is no limit on economic damages, such as loss of wages or hospital bills.
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