A notice from the federal government has impacted how advocacy groups can provide legal services for unaccompanied immigrant children in Tennessee.
Yesterday evening Advocates for Immigrant Rights (AIR), a subgrantee of the Acacia Center for Justice, was notified by the organization that a “stop work order” had been issued. The center, which helps support unaccompanied youth migrants through legal aid, provides funding to AIR for children in Tennessee.
In a letter addressed to the Acacia Center, the United States Department of the Interior said the group must “stop all work” associated with a contract between them and the department.
Photo: Advocates for Immigrant Rights
“This sudden decision cuts off legal services that help ensure due process for these kids, leaving 26,000 children across the U.S. vulnerable to deportation and potential harm,” AIR said in a statement.
Casey Bryant, executive director of AIR, said through their contract with the Acacia Center, they’ve accepted 200 cases. Bryant said the stop work order advises them to stop all work on their cases.
“This creates a serious quandary for us as attorneys who have a legal and ethical obligation to represent clients who we’ve agreed to represent,” Bryant said. “We’re representing them through universal representation.”
Bryant explained through this process they agree to be their client’s attorney for “anything that they need that has to do with their immigration proceedings.” They added this agreement lasts until the client receives legal status.
The population of unaccompanied immigrant children represent “some of the most vulnerable people in the country,” Bryant said. As a result, they don’t have access to immigration proceedings or representation in court.
Bryant said they are not changing the way they represent their clients at this point; however, they’re hoping they can reach a resolution through litigation. Even if there is no plan for the contract between the Acacia Center and AIR to be extended, Bryant hopes they can receive funding to represent their current cases.
“We’ve agreed to representation; we’ve already entered our appearance with the courts,,” Bryant said. “The courts are relying on us to provide representation. It’s impossible for us to not do work on these cases.”
This recent order is the newest addition of those issued by the Trump administration that targets immigrants including acts of mass deportations, family separation, and expansions of detention centers.
“We’re moving towards a dictatorship where a select group of people gets to make decisions about the way that we live and move through the country,” Bryant said. “I don’t think the Trump administration and these decisions speak for the people of the United States. He’s being influenced by big money, and they are making decisions to make this country — and the state — inhospitable to people who they don’t want to be here. That’s not how we as a country act or believe.”
Bryant mentioned they believe that governors like Bill Lee who have voiced their support for Trump’s mission and policies are “riding on the coattails of whatever authoritarianism the president and government are enforcing.”
“It’s not benefitting the people of Tennessee,” Bryant said. “It doesn’t benefit the people of Tennessee to act like this and to treat people who are residents, who pay taxes, and who add to the diversity and fabric of our communities.”
Update February 2, 2025: According to the Acacia Center, the order has been rescinded. Both the Acacia Center and AIR can resume their services.
There are about 1,200,000 children enrolled in Tennessee public schools in grades K-12. The Migration Policy Institute estimates that of that number, 10,000 are undocumented immigrant children, less than 1 percent.
In order to deal with this horrific problem, Tennessee House Majority Leader Representative William Lamberth and state Senator Bo Watson have introduced a bill that would allow local public school boards to ban students without legal citizenship. The bill would challenge the 1982 U.S. Supreme Court Plyler v. Doe decision, which entitles all children to public education regardless of immigration status.
Watson and Lamberth say the bill “seeks to challenge” the court decision. “The flood of illegal immigrants in our country has put an enormous drain on American tax dollars and resources. Our schools are the first to feel the impact,” Lamberth said.
Watson added, “An influx of illegal immigration can strain LEAs [local educational agencies] and put significant pressure on their budgets. This bill empowers local governments to manage their resources more effectively and builds upon the legislative action taken during the special session to address illegal immigration at the local level.”
So, in order to save all those precious tax dollars being spent on less than 1 percent of Tennessee’s schoolchildren, these bozos intend to spend millions of dollars challenging a Supreme Court ruling that has been law for more than 40 years. This isn’t about saving money. It’s just more performative GOP cruelty wrapped up in a legislative package.
Look, every politician knows how to stop illegal immigration: arrest the employers who hire undocumented labor. Problem solved. But their money is green and their skin is white and their profits depend on cheap labor, so we’ll just continue to get this crap legislation targeting the weakest link in the chain.
Speaking of which: Another recent GOP bill would require the parents of children without citizenship to pay tuition for public school. It’s called the Tennessee Reduction of Unlawful Migrant Placement Act. And yes, those initials spell “TRUMP” because there’s nothing more amusing than effing up the lives of innocent children.
These same Trumpaholics also passed a bill that would fine and/or jail any local government officials who don’t cooperate fully with federal and state deportation efforts. That bill is also headed to the courts.
Which brings us to Memphis-Shelby County Schools, which, to its credit, has established a legal hotline and guidelines for school principals in response to a new federal directive allowing immigration-enforcement officials to make arrests at schools. Principals are instructed to ask for identification and the purpose of the visit, and demand to see a warrant or other documents. If there are documents, they are to scan them and send them to the central office.
From the directive: “Federal government agencies like ICE are required to follow proper legal procedures when engaging immigration enforcement activities. … It is reasonable and appropriate to request that the official wait until you have received a response from the Office of General Counsel.”
“Reasonable and appropriate” are not terms I would use to describe behavior we have seen locally by federal agents, most notably the bizarre raid conducted by masked and hooded men on a TACOnganas food truck last week. But the raid, in which three men were escorted from their jobs and reportedly sent to an immigration facility in Louisiana, had the desired effect of sending many local immigrants into hiding.
A landscaping service in my neighborhood was working with half as many laborers as usual last week, and taking “twice as long” to do the job, according to the crew leader I spoke with. And at my favorite Mexican restaurant last Friday, the usual servers were nowhere to be seen. The manager was waiting tables, the kitchen was behind on orders, the understaffing was obvious.
Across Memphis and across the country, untold numbers of people are staying home, avoiding work, avoiding school. There will be a cost for all of this — financially, yes, as food prices rise and restaurants and other businesses struggle to stay afloat. But there is another price we’ll all pay: a diminished sense of community and the pointless pain being caused by these laws that are passed solely to inflict suffering on the least of us. We’re all going to pay the price for that, one way or another.
Hooded, masked men show no identification as they take workers from TaconGanas Monday. (Credit: TaconGanas via Facebook
The men who detained workers at TACOnganas yesterday were, indeed, federal agents, according to Memphis Mayor Paul Young.
We’ll follow details of this story. For now, this is as much as we know:
At around 5:30 p.m. Monday, TACOnganas posted this to Facebook along with a video showing the encounter:
“Earlier today, individuals entered one of our trucks and took away several of our employees. We do not know what prompted this. We were not told beforehand, and we have not been told since. We understand it may be difficult to watch, but we’re sharing a video of it.
“We have heard from the employees. They’ve been told they’re being detained by (U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement – ICE). We don’t know if the men you see in the video work for ICE or for someone else. You’ll see they have no uniforms, do not show any badge or ID, and did not leave any identifying information or paperwork. If not for our security cameras, we would not even know this happened.
“We’ve contacted legal aid organizations to help the employees, and we’re gathering any information we have to share with their families. Our company complies with federal and local immigration laws, and we know everyone is dealing with situations like this. We know our community is scared. As the country navigates a new normal, we’re here to support the community and to support our workforce and people, too.”
As the video spread quickly across social media in Memphis, Young posted this statement to X at around 9:30 p.m. Monday:
“We understand the shockwaves that are reverberating through our community right now following the release of the TACOnganas video.
“Although these matters don’t fall under our jurisdiction, we reached out to federal authorities out of concern. Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) confirmed that this action was carried out by federal agents.
We have been instructed to send all media inquiries to HSI.”
Media Statement: Monday, February 10, 2025
We understand the shockwaves that are reverberating through our community right now following the release of the TACOnganas video.
Although these matters don't fall under our jurisdiction, we reached out to federal authorities out…
State Sen. Bo Watson (R-Hixson) has cosponsored a bill meant to challenge a 1982 Supreme Court ruling. Credit: Martin B. Cherry / Nashville Banner
This story was originally published by the Nashville Banner. Sign up for their newsletter.
In the latest overt challenge to Supreme Court precedent, Tennessee Republican lawmakers have introduced a bill that would allow school districts to deny undocumented students from enrolling. The bill runs counter to the 1982 U.S. Supreme Court Plyler v. Doe decision, which entitled all children to public education despite immigration status.
The bill, introduced Tuesday by Tennessee House Majority Leader Rep. William Lamberth (R-Portland) and state Sen. Bo Watson (R-Hixson), would directly challenge more than 40 years of precedent by allowing local education authorities, like school boards, to bar students without legal citizenship from attending public schools.
In an accompanying statement, Watson and Lamberth say the bill intentionally “seeks to challenge” the court decision, citing the cost of public education.
“The flood of illegal immigrants in our country has put an enormous drain on American tax dollars and resources. Our schools are the first to feel the impact,” Lamberth said. “Tennessee communities should not have to suffer or pay when the federal government fails to secure our borders. Our obligation is to ensure a high-quality education for legal residents first.”
Watson’s comments Tuesday similarly focused on the impact on public school funding.
“Our education system has limited resources, which should be prioritized for students who are legally present in the country,” Watson said. “An influx of illegal immigration can strain LEAs and put significant pressure on their budgets. This bill empowers local governments to manage their resources more effectively and builds upon the legislative action taken during the special session to address illegal immigration at the local level.”
The bill follows a four-day special legislative session that focused on increasing immigration enforcement and a $447 million school voucher plan. According to the legislature’s estimates, the voucher plan will directly remove $47 million from public school education and that amount could continue to grow.
Their arguments echo those of Rep. Gino Bulso (R-Brentwood), who introduced the “Tennessee Reduction of Unlawful Migrant Placement” or “TRUMP” Act in January, which would, among other things, require the parents of children without full citizenship to pay tuition to attend public schools. At the time, Bulso said the bill was to conserve public resources for citizens, but he also noted that such legislation can be a “disincentive for those who are considering coming into the country illegally from coming to Tennessee.”
Casey Bryant, founder and executive director of Advocates for Immigration Rights of Memphis, said that the bill is far from being enacted despite the momentum from Tennessee lawmakers who favor penalizing and deporting those without citizenship.
“I think there’s always been people who were trying to do this, and they’ve been just chomping at the bit to make it happen,” Bryant said of Tennessee lawmakers Tuesday. “Even if it gets through the Tennessee General Assembly — which will be shameful for the state — it won’t go into effect for a long time, because this gonna be wrapped up in years of litigation.”
As an immigration attorney, Bryant says the litany of recent proposed policy changes at the state and federal level have already had a cooling effect on the immigrant community, despite their citizenship status, even before the aggressive policies take place.
“I mean, people are not going out at all,” Bryant said of immigrant communities in Memphis, noting a number of people have been missing work out of fear of ICE raids.
“There is a lot of fear, and it really is sending a message across the land that this isn’t a safe place for people and they’re going to be penalized for who they are or what they look like, even people who have lawful status in the United States,” he added.
Sen. Raumesh Akbari (D-Memphis) condemned the bill as a distraction from policies that might address public school funding and fraught with legal trouble.
“House Bill 793 isn’t just cruel — it’s unconstitutional. This isn’t a policy proposal; it’s a lawsuit, designed to deny children their right to an education and waste taxpayer dollars. Every child, no matter their background, deserves a public education,” Akbari said.
Sen. London Lamar (D-Memphis) said the policy contributes to a recent pattern of biased education decisions in Tennessee, citing local book bans that target works written by people of color, the voucher bill that opponents believe will worsen disparities in education and ongoing financial peril at Tennessee State University, the state’s oldest HBCU.
“This bill doesn’t even try to hide its prejudiced intent,” Lamar said. “Like school vouchers, which were designed in response to desegregation, this legislation cherry-picks which students deserve opportunity. We’ve seen this before, and we won’t let them drag us backward.”
At work, the therapist often shares a psychoeducational handout that describes ways to cope with anxiety. The recommended tools of deep breathing and meditation can be helpful, and yet she doubts they are adequate in the present situation. Even classic cognitive restructuring — scaling back worst-case-scenario thinking — seems to her duplicitous. She wants to conjure exercises that banish all anxiety, particularly worries around Trump’s threats of mass deportation. But she isn’t that good.
Undocumented immigrants living in the United States have been in this spot before, and so has the therapist, who worked in this small office eight years ago, when Trump first set up residence in the White House. She has waited for this fear to resurface as a concern for those who visit the family medicine clinic to treat diabetes or high blood pressure and then stop in to discuss their life stressors. Soon after the 2024 presidential election, a patient brought up Trump’s aggressive threats. “I don’t belong anywhere in this country,” she said sadly. Some patients report difficulty controlling worrying, trouble relaxing, and feeling as if something catastrophic might happen.
Trained to maintain confidentiality, the therapist nevertheless believed back in 2017 that it was important to move outside the bubble of therapy and raise awareness of the toxic impact Trump’s immigration policies had on mental health. During Trump’s first term, she wrote an article for Memphis Parent magazine introducing Karla’s story. An article reflecting similar concerns could be written today. “Sixteen-year-old Karla plans a special Mother’s Day celebration. The high school junior will serve breakfast in bed to her mom, honoring her mother’s presence in her life. Throughout the day, she’ll try to push aside the anxiety she has experienced the past few months. ‘I try to cherish every moment.’ Inevitably, though, she will read a news report or social media post outlining President Donald Trump’s immigration policies. Karla is a U.S. citizen, and her parents are undocumented immigrants from Mexico. ‘I worry that one day my parents may not come back to my house,’ she said. ‘My 9-year-old sister looks at the news and worries when someone knocks on the door.’”
When at school, the distracted girls found it difficult to concentrate on academics. In many ways, Karla’s parents were typical — they worked hard, paid taxes, and built strong relationships in the community. The children looked forward to attending college.
Another source for the article was Mauricio Calvo, the director of Latino Memphis, who said, “Children are hearing the conversation at the dinner table, ‘What happens if I don’t come back today?’ For a community where family is everything, the fear of separation touches us at our core. People fear that any interaction with the government will result in deportation — applying for food stamps for their U.S. citizen families, or going to any court, not just immigration court. Some skip doctors’ appointments, and fear of deportation may prevent crime victims from filing police reports. Even if nothing happens, anxiety makes people sick.”
He noted that at one elementary school, parents from four families approached a teacher, pleading with her to take custody of their children in the event of their deportation.
That year, local artist Yancy Villa shared her perspective with the Barrier Free installation displayed in pop-ups around the country. In silhouettes portraying a father carrying a child and a caregiver pushing a wheelchair, the artist left void spaces representing missing persons. Her project built on the controversial idea of Trump’s proposed wall along the U.S.-Mexico border. Instead of concrete, the installation consisted of portraits of local families and individuals representing Memphis’ diverse tapestry. “Everyone is an essential part of our community, and separating us, physically, emotionally, or in any other form, makes our community incomplete,” she said.
It is now early 2025 just after the festive holiday season. In some areas of Mexico and the United States, children recently celebrated Epiphany, commonly known as Three Kings Day or El Día de Los Tres Reyes, by leaving out shoes filled with hay for the kings’ camels. It is a happy and joyful time. Weeks later, the 60th presidential inauguration ceremony took place, ushering in a period with many unknowns. It is vital for undocumented immigrants to know their rights, and the Latino Memphis website describes those rights and how to apply them.
The therapist is not fluent in Spanish, the “heart language” of many patients, and relies on medical interpreters to facilitate conversations about the ways of the heart and mind. Still, the pain comes through loud and clear, and Mauricio Calvo’s words from eight years ago return to the therapist. “Even if nothing happens, anxiety makes people sick.”
Stephanie Painter is a behavioral health consultant and freelance writer.
The items proposed for Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee’s special session, scheduled to start next week, carry a price tag of nearly $917 million, with his school voucher plan alone costing $424 million in its first year.
The session is set to only cover three major issues: Lee’s school vouchers, relief for Hurricane Helene victims in East Tennessee, and readying the state to conform to President Donald Trump’s immigration plan, which could include mass deportations.
A proposed law to pay for all of it (called an appropriations bill) has been filed in the Tennessee General Assembly ahead of the session to start Monday. Check it out here:
Here’s a basic breakdown of the costs from the bill:
Education Freedom Scholarships (aka the school voucher plan)
• $225.8 million every year
• $198.4 million just this year
• Total: $424.2 million
Hurricane Helene response:
• $210 million for the Hurricane Helene fund and the Governor’s Response and Recovery Fund
• $240 million for TEMA disaster relief grants
• $20 million to rebuild Hampton High School in Carter County
• $6.2 million for affected schools in Tourism Development Zones
• $17 million for incentives for school systems to get more than half of their schools to get an “A” letter grade
The spending bill does not propose spending any money (yet) on Trump’s immigration enforcement plan.
Also interesting is that the bill pays for the special session itself. But no price tag was flashed on that one. Instead, it vaguely covers the whole thing.
“In addition to any other funds appropriated by the provisions of this act, there is appropriated a sum sufficient to the General Assembly for the sole purpose of payment of any lawful expenses, including, but not limited to, staffing, per diem, travel, and other expenses, of the First Extraordinary Session of the One Hundred Fourteenth General Assembly,” reads the bill.
So, Tennesseans are footing the bill for legislators to return to Nashville (travel), eat and drink while they are there (per diem), pay their staff members to help them, and pay for any other “lawful” expense lawmakers may have while conducting Lee’s business.
Buoyed by President Donald Trump’s plan for mass deportation of undocumented immigrants, Tennessee’s governor is proposing to fund an immigration enforcement bureau that could take on deportation authority to remove people from the country.
In a proclamation calling a special session to start January 27, Governor Bill Lee detailed creation of a central immigration agency with enforcement powers and a closer relationship with U.S. courts, and possible use of state courts, to remove undocumented people. Lee’s plan establishes a fund to pay for the agency, but he has not given a cost estimate.
Under current law, federal authorities handle immigration law, in some instances working with local law enforcement. But this move would give the state wider latitude to enforce those laws, especially in conjunction with a federal court dealing with immigrants accused of “terrorism.”
The state’s attempt to do the federal government’s bidding sets a dangerous precedent for all of us and our constitutional rights.
– Lisa Sherman Luna, Tennessee Immigrant and Refugee Rights Coalition
Lisa Sherman Luna, executive director of the Tennessee Immigrant and Refugee Rights Coalition, said Tuesday state and local processes are handled separately from federal immigration matters.
“The state’s attempt to do the federal government’s bidding sets a dangerous precedent for all of us and our constitutional rights,” Sherman Luna said.
Lt. Governor Randy McNally said Tuesday even though no bill has been filed, he supports including immigration in the governor’s call for a special session.
“President Trump has made clear he intends to reverse the Biden illegal immigration invasion immediately,” McNally said. He added that undocumented immigrants with felonies and criminal records need to be removed quickly.
Lee has confirmed he would activate the National Guard to take on Trump’s plan to deport “criminals” without citizenship status. Trump, though, has mentioned removing up to 18 million people without documentation and revoking birthright citizenship, which is guaranteed under the Fourteenth Amendment to people born in the country regardless of their parents’ immigration status, as well as children born abroad to U.S. citizens. Twenty-two states filed suit Monday to stop his effort to end birthright citizenship.
Trump declared a national emergency for the U.S.-Mexico border Monday, the day of his inauguration, enabling him to deploy armed forces such as National Guard troops, set up more barriers, complete a wall, and allow for unmanned air surveillance. Tennessee has sent its troops to the border multiple times already.
The order also allows the Insurrection Act of 1807 to be invoked, granting the president authority to use troops against Americans involved in civil disorder or rebellion.
A separate executive order he signed Monday stopped some legal forms of immigration, including humanitarian parole for nationals from Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua, and Venezuela, and ended the use of an app for migrants to make appointments with asylum officers.
Under Lee’s plan, in addition to establishing an immigration agency, the state would have the ability to penalize local government officials that adopt sanctuary city policies. Sanctuary city policies, which limit the sharing of information with federal authorities, are illegal in Tennessee.
The proclamation also calls for revising state-issued IDs to determine a person’s immigration status for voting rights and government services. Rep. Gino Bulso (R-Brentwood) is sponsoring a measure requiring financial institutions to check the immigration status of anyone attempting to send money out of the country.
Rep. Gino Bulso, R-Brentwood, is sponsoring a measure requiring financial institutions to check the immigration status of anyone attempting to send money out of the country. (Photo: John Partipilo)
The immigration enforcement plan will be considered during the special session at the same time lawmakers take up the governor’s private-school voucher plan, Hurricane Helene relief for eight East Tennessee counties and establishment of the Tennessee Transportation Financing Authority to help deliver public-private road construction projects. The state is working on a toll lane along I-24 from Nashville to Murfreesboro as part of an act the legislature approved in 2023.
Several immigration-related bills are sponsored, including one by Senator Shane Reeves (R-Murfreesboro) that requires the Department of Safety and Homeland Security to study the enforcement of federal immigration laws, detentions and removals, as well as state investigations and immigrant-related challenges and progress.
Another measure by Representative Todd Warner (R-Chapel Hill) requires law enforcement agencies to communicate with federal officials about the immigration status for people arrested for a criminal offense.
A bill by state Representative Gino Bulso (R-Brentwood) requires financial institutions to verify the immigration status of a person sending funds outside the United States.
State Senator Todd Gardenhire (R-Chattanooga) is sponsoring a bill that would exempt undocumented immigrant students who otherwise would be reported by local authorities to federal immigration officials for deportation. A law passed in 2024 requires local law enforcement to tell federal immigration agents the immigration status for anyone arrested for a criminal offense.
Tennessee Lookout is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Tennessee Lookout maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Holly McCall for questions: info@tennesseelookout.com.
A local nonprofit is working to increase awareness of the services they offer for immigrants as promises made by Governor Bill Lee may soon come to fruition – with harmful consequences.
Earlier this week the governor called for a special session of the Tennessee General Assembly on January 27 to discuss a number of topics such as illegal immigration. Officials said this is to prepare for the implementation of policies introduced by the incoming Trump administration.
“The American people elected President Trump with a mandate to enforce immigration laws and protect our communities, and Tennessee must have the resources ready to support the Administration on Day One,” a statement from Lee’s office said.
Prior to this announcement, Lee said he would work with state law enforcement agencies to conduct deportations. He also signed a statement along with 25 other Republican governors announcing their commitment to the Trump administration’s effort to deport what they referred to as “illegal immigrants who pose a threat to our communities and national security” and “dangerous criminals, gang members, and terrorists.”
“We understand the direct threat these criminal illegal immigrants pose to public safety and our national security, and we will do everything in our power to assist in removing them from our communities,” the statement added.
Casey Bryant, the executive director and founder for Advocates for Immigrant Rights is making sure that the community is aware of the resources available to them in light of these threats.
“The real danger in that is creating a police state where someone who looks suspicious in some way to someone could be wrapped up in a system that doesn’t grant basic due process rights to people,” Bryant said. “It doesn’t just make this world more dangerous and insecure for people who are non-citizens, but it makes it more dangerous and insecure for people who look like non-citizens — whatever that means.”
When policies like these, which rely on visual identification, Bryant added they end up “degrading the rights of the whole.”
Bryant started Advocates for Immigrant Rights in October 2018, after realizing the gap in resources for immigrants given the landscape that the previous Trump administration created. The organization has evolved from a two-people operation to one with 17 staff members, including five staff attorneys – three of which are located in Memphis. Bryant and her team represent people in immigration courts and immigration offices across Tennessee, Arkansas, and Mississippi.
Advocates for Immigrant Rights also provides wraparound services such as social services.
Bryant said that this increased vigilance could also lead to resources having an increased workload such as the facilities needed to process and hold noncitizens if they’ve been detained. These include the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) facilities along with places in between arriving there.
She added that immigration courts that already have an “immense” backlog of cases could be affected.
“Adding more cases to that means that they won’t get processed for like 10 years,” Bryant said. “It puts people in a state of limbo for a long time, and it’s just impracticable. In the meantime it creates fear and suspicion in communities and non-citizens aren’t going to be able to engage confidently in society.”
In hopes of helping immigrants engage in society confidently, Bryant and her team make sure to stay visible in these communities as well.
“Our relationship isn’t just moored in a service provision,” Bryant said. “Even if our interactions are only transactional, each interaction has the same mentality that we’re not above them. We’re not sitting in an ivory tower. We’re just people wearing jeans and a t-shirt interacting with people who may not know what we know, but obviously they know other stuff, so we try to build rapport and confidence.”
Bryant stressed that there are way more people who need their services, than those who can provide. As a result Bryant encourages people to donate to their organization as they are a nonprofit.
“Another thing individual people can do is acknowledge the shared humanity and dignity of our neighbors who may not have the same kind of privilege to have been born in our country and take it for granted,” Bryant said. “Non-citizens have to know more than we do before they get to be a citizen.”
It’s extremely important to refute ill-informed rhetoric that can be spewed by media outlets and “mouths at family dinner tables.”
“We have a community here that has to deal with different issues and being more understanding of what those issues are will help us unite as a people,” Bryant said.
Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee confirmed Wednesday for the first time he would deploy National Guard troops to deport undocumented immigrants if President-elect Donald Trump makes the request.
Speaking to reporters after a groundbreaking event at the Tennessee College of Applied Technology on White Bridge Road in Nashville, Lee said no plan exists for Trump’s strategy to remove criminals who came into America illegally and no requests have been made to use Tennessee National Guard troops for deportation.
Yet Lee said he fully supports Trump’s plan to remove criminals that are undocumented immigrants, even though the next president has talked, not necessarily about removing criminals, but about deporting some 18 million immigrants, including U.S. citizens who are the children of undocumented parents.
“What I believe is that President Trump was elected saying what he wanted to do and the people elected him in a very strong fashion,” Lee said. “And I am supportive of his strategies going forward, and if that includes utilizing the national guard at the president’s request, then I’ll work together with governors across the country to do that.”
Lee previously issued a statement saying he asked state agencies to prepare to support Trump’s efforts to secure the nation’s borders and keep communities safe. That came after he spoke vaguely about the matter in a December press conference, saying the next president will set his strategies and the state would work to “implement strategies that work for Tennessee.”
He said that a day before the Republican Governors Association issued a letter signed by Lee saying it stands “united” in supporting Trump’s commitment to deal with the “illegal immigration crisis and deporting illegal immigrants who pose a threat to our communities and national security.”
The governor declined to speculate Wednesday about whether troops from some states might go into other states to deport immigrants if governors refuse to follow Trump’s orders to deploy their national guards.
A one-time mass deportation of about 11 million people who lack permanent legal status and 2.3 million more who crossed the U.S. southern border from January 2023 through April 2024 could cost an estimated $315 billion, according to the American Immigration Council.
The Tennessee Immigrant and Refugee Rights Coalition previously condemned Lee’s commitment, saying the move would hurt families and the local economy. The immigrant rights group said business leaders, economists, faith leaders and legal experts believe such a plan would be “disastrous.”
Republican leaders in the Tennessee legislature back Lee’s willingness to use troops, while Democrats criticize it as an attack on the immigrant community.
Tennessee Lookout is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Tennessee Lookout maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Holly McCall for questions: info@tennesseelookout.com.
Gov. Bill Lee addressing members of the Tennessee National Guard while on a trip to the Texas-Mexico border in July 2021. Lee has indicated he may use state personnel, including National Guard troops, to aid in the deportation of millions of immigrants.(Photo: tn.gov)
Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee is set to use state personnel, likely National Guard troops and highway patrol officers, to back President-elect Donald Trump’s plan to deport millions of immigrants when he takes office in January 2025.
The Republican governor issued a statement on the social media platform X last week saying, “I have asked key state agencies to begin making preparations & stand ready on Day 1 to support President Trump’s efforts to secure our Nation’s borders & keep communities safe.”
The statement marked the governor’s first confirmation that he is willing to use Tennessee personnel, which could include troops and state officers, to remove undocumented immigrants as part of a national effort by Trump to deport millions of people.
Lee sent the message on the heels of a statement from the Republican Governors Association saying it stands “united” in supporting Trump’s commitment to deal with the “illegal immigration crisis and deporting illegal immigrants who pose a threat to our communities and national security.”
Via X: “I have asked key state agencies to begin making preparations & stand ready on Day 1 to support President Trump’s efforts to secure our Nation’s borders & keep communities safe.”
A one-time mass deportation of about 11 million people who lack permanent legal status and 2.3 million more who crossed the U.S. southern border from January 2023 through April 2024 could cost an estimated $315 billion, according to the American Immigration Council.
The Tennessee Immigrant and Refugee Rights Coalition condemned Lee’s commitment, saying such a move would hurt families and the local economy. The group said Lee and 25 Republican governors signed a letter committing to “utilize every tool” at their disposal, which would include state law enforcement and the National Guard.
The immigrant rights group said such a plan has been deemed “disastrous” by business leaders, economists, faith leaders and legal experts.
“Whether fleeing danger or seeking opportunity, immigrants enrich our state and strengthen our communities. Rounding up families is not just a moral disaster, but an economic one, crippling our businesses and agriculture and grinding production to a halt,” the coalition said in a statement. “Further, the state resources wasted on mass deportations could instead provide housing, healthcare, and education for Tennessee working families.”
“I don’t think ICE is big enough to handle all that due to the number of people who’ve come across the border who are criminals and committed crimes,” said House Speaker Cameron Sexton of using state resources. (Photo: John Partipilo)
Yet key Republican lawmakers are in the governor’s corner.
In a statement to the Tennessee Lookout, Lt. Gov. Randy McNally said, “The illegal immigration crisis, which has been untenable for many years, exploded under the Biden administration. The voters of our state and our nation have made it clear that they want the crisis resolved and President Trump is committed to resolving it. Activating the National Guard to secure our border and assist with deportations is entirely appropriate. I believe the legislature would and should approve such an effort.”
House Speaker Cameron Sexton told the Lookout last week governors would make decisions with the federal government but added that he supports removal of some immigrants.
“You’ve gotta get illegals who’ve committed crimes in our country out of the country,” Sexton said. “I don’t care where they are, you’ve gotta get them out. I don’t think ICE is big enough to handle all that due to the number of people who’ve come across the border who are criminals and committed crimes.”
While Sexton spoke about immigrants charged with crimes since coming to America, Trump hasn’t always differentiated between that group and other immigrants who make up a large sector of the nation’s workforce.
Trump’s pick for “border czar,” Tom Homan, has said the president-elect made it clear he would prioritize deportation for immigrants who are gang members and considered dangerous, while also saying anyone in the country illegally “shouldn’t feel comfortable.”
Although the Republican Governors Association accused President Joe Biden of failing to secure the border, a report by the Migration Policy Institute shows the Biden Administration is on track to remove nearly as many people as the Trump Administration — 1.1 million for the roughly three years from the start of fiscal 2021 through February 2024 — compared to 1.5 million deportations during Trump’s four years of 2016 to 2020.
The report says the Biden Administration also undertook 3 million migrant expulsions during the Covid pandemic era from March 2020 to May 2023 for a total of almost 4.4 million repatriations.
Since the Covid ban on migration ended, the Biden administration increased deportations and removed or returned 775,000 migrants, the most since 2010, according to the migrationpolicy.org article.
Still, Trump has touched on using federal troops to assist in deportation, and Republican governors are showing a willingness to put state troops and officers into the fray.
The immigrant rights coalition said the governor’s statement gives local law enforcement and the National Guard a “rubber stamp” to “overstep their jurisdiction and forcefully detain our neighbors,” which sets a “dangerous precedent for all Tennesseans.”
If illegal immigration is as big a problem in Tennessee as Lee now claims and we have the legal authority to do something about it, then Tennesseans should ask Gov. Lee and this Republican supermajority why the state has failed to do more.
– Rep. John Ray Clemmons, D-Nashville
The coalition’s statement adds the governor is “placing a dark stain on our state” and that it is “ready to defend our communities and protect one another.”
State Rep. John Ray Clemmons (D-Nashville) said the governor’s use of “bigoted talking points” is causing hostility toward his constituents. He encouraged the governor to visit his district in South Nashville to see the “thriving” businesses and children studying in local schools.
Clemmons acknowledged that dangerous criminals, gang members and terrorists in the country illegally should be removed. He added that the legislature approved $161 million for the Department of Homeland Security, $110 million to the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation and $18 million to the Military Department for related purposes.
“If illegal immigration is as big a problem in Tennessee as Lee now claims and we have the legal authority to do something about it, then Tennesseans should ask Gov. Lee and this Republican supermajority why the state has failed to do more,” Clemmons said.
Clemmons, though, said he believes the state’s jurisdiction and ability to enforce federal immigration policies could be entangled in “complex legal questions.”
Tennessee Lookout is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Tennessee Lookout maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Holly McCall for questions: info@tennesseelookout.com.
