Editor’s Note: This story was updated after publication with additional details.
Tennessee is planning to establish an immigration enforcement unit that is exempt from the state’s public record laws.
With a vote of 26-7, the Senate passed immigration measures on Wednesday at the request of President Donald Trump. This included a lesser-known amendment in which the Department of Safety and Homeland Security stated that it could maintain records from which the department or chief immigration enforcement officer has collected or received records. Confidential. It is not limited to confidential or confidential information received from federal, local or states in accordance with the amendments accompanying the Immigration Enforcement Bill. The home is scheduled to take action Thursday.
Sen. Bo Watson, chairman of the Finance Committee, said Wednesday that the Department of Safety had sought confidentiality to “align” the department’s current laws with the immigration enforcement division.
“It’s nothing new,” said Watson, a Hixon Republican.
However, confidentiality provisions were barely noticed when attached to the main bill. It sets up a $5 million fund for immigration enforcement training and close to $500,000 for four staff members within the Department of Safety. authorities.
Sen. Todd Gardenhier, the only Republican critic of the immigration bill and opposed it in the Senate, said he doesn’t know that information within the department will become secret. Chattanooga Republicans said the measure could be fixed later and specify issues that could become sensitive without affecting the entire department.
“I don’t think agents or government agencies should be exempt from open records (ACTs) unless you specify exactly what it is, not just open-ended, but also exactly what it is,” Gardenhire said.
He added that the department may not have thought about the impact.
Senator London Lamar of Memphis could be involved in “unethical practices attempting to implement some of the goals of this deportation office,” so the Department of Safety’s identity of officers involved in immigration enforcement He said he thinks he is trying to hide.
Under current law, ongoing criminal investigations are exempt from the Public Records Act, along with many other exemptions.
Deborah Fisher, executive director of Tennessee’s Open Government Coalition, said the changes should be made to change the bill, rather than giving the department full confidentiality.
Measured Senate votes failed to amend bills to remove clauses that include felony of local elected officials to support sanctuary policies for immigration We concluded the day.
In addition to establishing an immigration enforcement unit, the bill will allow local district lawyers to file felony charges against local government officials who voted in favor of sanctuary policies. The bill also gives the Tennessee Attorney General the authority to remove civil servants from the office for those votes. Tennessee law prohibits sanctuary cities, a situation where local governments restrict cooperation with federal agencies to enforce immigration laws.
Legal experts, including Congress’s own legal counsel, concluded that the courts had “absolute immunity” when elected local officials at the time of vote, and both the state and the US Constitution were officially elected. He pointed out that officials have speech and discussion provisions that protect the right to perform their duties. Legislative attorney Matthew Mandy said the provision was “constitutionally questionable.”
I don’t think agents or government agencies should be exempt from open records (ACTs) unless you specify exactly what it is, as well as open-ended.
– Senator Todd Garden Hier, R-Chattanooga
“It’s very concerning to me, and as it’s our job to vote, the individuals who were officially elected to do the job of those who were elected officials to vote were I am concerned about felony charges for doing their job, Rep. Antonio Parkinson, a Memphis Democrat, said at an Immigration Committee hearing on Wednesday. If there are individuals who choose to say yes or no, it is incredibly undemocratic and problematic. ”
House leader William Lambers, Gallatin Republican, who holds the governor’s bill, replied: period. You can vote for anything else you want, but in itself is a crime. There are no sanctuary cities in this state. ”
The measure also requires the state to mark driver licenses for immigrants who do not have citizenship status. Currently, legal immigrants, such as green card holders, can obtain the same license as citizens.
“The Nazi Germans made this a Jew,” said Sen. Sharlan Oliver of Nashville, referring to the Star of David, sewn into his clothes.
That’s very concerning to me. It is just as our job to cast a vote is charged with a felony for doing their job, so individuals formally elected by the public are elected to vote. I am very concerned that he was doing his job as an official.
– Rep. Antonio Parkinson, D-Memphis
Republicans said the measure aims to serve as an additional component of election safety as distinctive ID markers prevent immigrants from voting. An amendment that changes licensing requirements failed on the Senate floor.
A Republican senator said immigration plans are needed to address former President Joe Biden’s border policy and to stop human trafficking and drug smuggling across the tropical border.
Before the Senate vote, discussions over measures during the Legislative Committee attracted a large audience. He was forced out by a Tennessee Highway patrol officer at a Wednesday morning immigration committee hearing after audience members stopped their presentation on Bill Lambers.
The three women refused to leave and were taken from the committee room by patrol officers.
Anita Wadwani contributed to this story.
Get the morning heading.
