Tennessee Republicans are bucking for a Supreme Court showdown to end the constitutional requirement for public schools to teach every child regardless of their immigration status.
But at least one member of the majority party says lawmakers are operating out of “fear” that they’ll run into primary opposition next year if they don’t vote for a bill allowing school districts to opt out of serving immigrant children without permanent legal status.
“There’s an old saying on Wall Street: When the ducks are quacking, you feed ’em,” said Sen. Todd Gardenhire, chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee. “And the hysteria of anti-Hispanics is running rampant right now, and the ducks are quacking, so this bill is designed to satisfy the ducks and feed ’em what they want to eat.”
House Bill 793, which is sponsored by House Majority Leader William Lamberth of Portland and Sen. Bo Watson of Hixson, is being sold as a method to challenge Plyler v. Doe, a precedent-setting 1982 U.S. Supreme Court case. Lamberth and Watson also say passing it is important to keep local school boards from taking on the burden of educating immigrant students.
Watson said the bill is designed to build on action taken during the legislature’s recent special session at the request of President Donald Trump.
Sen. Bo Watson, a Hixson Republican, said his bill is designed to build on action taken to tighten immigration measures during a recent special legislative session. (Photo: John Partipilo)
Lawmakers approved $5.5 million two weeks ago to set up a bureau within the Department of Safety and Homeland Security that would work with federal and local law enforcement on deportation of immigrants without permanent legal status. Nearly all of the money will go toward grants to train local law enforcement agencies on handling immigrants without legal status.
Lamberth defended the bill by saying the nation has been inundated with immigrants compared with the early 1980s when the Supreme Court case was decided.
“Those illegal immigrants are not going to be able to benefit from the services reserved for legal immigrants or U.S. citizens, period,” he said. “If they don’t like that, they can go to some state that’s a sanctuary state.”
House Speaker Cameron Sexton supports the bill, saying local school districts are having trouble handling a large number of immigrant students who either speak English as a second language or leave school during different times of the year based on their parents’ jobs.
“It’s detrimental to everything we’re trying to achieve in the school system,” Sexton said.
In addition to creating the immigration enforcement bureau, which will be able to operate confidentially, lawmakers excluded students without permanent legal status from the governor’s private-school voucher bill during the special session.
Those illegal immigrants are not going to be able to benefit from the services reserved for legal immigrants or U.S. citizens, period.
– House Majority Leader William Lamberth
The move drew opposition from first-term Rep. Gabby Salinas of Memphis, who migrated to America from Bolivia when she was 7. She said the bill is unconstitutional and goes against the “international standard” for educating all children, putting Tennessee on par with countries that engage in child labor and child abuse.
“For us to be leaders at the global stage and to be engaging in such practices, it’s cruel, it’s inhumane, and it’s heartless,” Salinas said.
Even though the bill targets children without permanent legal status, Salinas said it could affect other children who are friends, classmates and neighbors. She predicted a “catastrophic” loss of revenue if the measure passes and eventually becomes law.
“If the human cost is not enough, look at the numbers and financial cost,” she said, noting immigrants contribute heavily to the state and national economy.
The American Immigration Council reported that 383,800 immigrant residents in Tennessee had more than $11 billion in spending power in 2022 and paid $3.2 billion in taxes. It didn’t delineate immigrants without permanent legal status.
The Migration Policy Institute estimated 128,000 immigrants without legal status live in Tennessee, and 10,000 of those are enrolled in public schools, according to a House Republican Caucus release.
“For us to be leaders at the global stage and to be engaging in such practices, it’s cruel, it’s inhumane, and it’s heartless,” said Rep. Gabby Salinas, a Memphis Democrat.
Lamberth said communities across the state shouldn’t be forced to pay for the federal government’s failure to secure the country’s borders.
“Our obligation is to ensure a high-quality education for legal residents first,” Lamberth said.
Despite the claims that immigrant children put a burden on local school districts, J.C. Bowman, executive director of Professional Educators of Tennessee, said he doesn’t hear complaints from teachers.
The main problem, he said, is that immigrant children are required to be tested as soon as they transfer into a school district.
“The major issue was technology,” Bowman said. He added that the state has a shortage of teachers for English as a second language.
House Bill 793 has not been scheduled to be heard in a House or Senate committee.
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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.
SUMMARY: Rome Ramirez, former Sublime member, celebrates his solo debut with the single “Why Me.” The song reflects his 15-year journey with Sublime, flipping the negative question “Why me?” into a message of gratitude and perseverance. Written with close friend Chris Galbuta, the track showcases Ramirez’s personal growth. The debut single’s cover artwork features a young Ramirez with a Sublime poster, symbolizing his roots. Ramirez, now living in Nashville, is also gearing up for upcoming festivals, including Summerfest in Milwaukee, while releasing more music throughout the year. He remains grateful for his experiences with Sublime and his musical journey.
He is a multi-platinum singer and songwriter, and now He is debuting his solo career today on Local On 2! You know Rome Ramirez from his time as the front man of Sublime and Rome! Now he is stepping out on his own with his new song, “Why Me?”
www.thecentersquare.com – By Kim Jarrett | The Center Square – (The Center Square – ) 2025-04-18 12:36:00
(The Center Square) – Tennessee’s revenues for March were $33.3 million less than the budgeted estimates, according to Department of Finance and Administration Commissioner Jim Bryson.
The $1.6 billion in collections is $69.3 million less than March 2024.
“Sales tax receipts, which reflect February’s consumer activity, were likely impacted by adverse weather conditions,” Bryson said. “Corporate tax collections came in slightly below target but remained largely in line with expectations.”
Fuel taxes exceeded budget expectations, increasing by $9.1 million, a 10.39% jump.
Corporate collections are down 13.9% when compared to March 2024, a difference of $44 million. Corporate tax revenues year-to-date are 9.65% below estimates and down 22% when compared to August 2023 to March 2024 numbers. The General Assembly passed a corporate franchise tax cut in 2024 that was estimated to cost the state $1.6 billion. Corporations started applying for the tax break in May 2024.
Bryson reported a decline of $35.4 million in general fund revenues for March.
“Although we fell short of our monthly target, year-to-date revenues remain just below forecast,” Bryson said. “We will continue to closely monitor economic indicators and revenue trends to maintain fiscal stability.”
March is the eighth month of the fiscal year 2024-2025 budget.
The General Assembly passed the $59.8 billion budget for fiscal year 2025-2026 earlier this week, which does not include any tax breaks.
Lawmakers from both parties raised concerns about possible federal budget cuts that could affect Tennessee. Sen. Bo Watson, R-Hixson, said when the budget process began in February that the state was already seeing a freeze in some programs.
House and Senate Democrats sent a letter to Bryson this week asking for more details on federal budget cuts.
WASHINGTON — The U.S. Supreme Court announced Thursday it will hear oral arguments next month over President Donald Trump’s efforts to restructure birthright citizenship, though the justices won’t decide on the merits of the case just yet.
Instead, they will choose whether to leave in place nationwide injunctions from lower courts that so far have blocked the Trump administration from implementing the executive order.
The oral arguments, scheduled for May 15, will likely provide the first indication of whether any of the nine justices are interested in revisiting the Court’s interpretation of the 14th Amendment, which was ratified in 1868 following the Civil War.
The amendment states that “all persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside.”
The Supreme Court ruled in 1898 in United States v. Wong Kim Ark that the 14th Amendment guarantees any child born in the United States is entitled to U.S. citizenship, even if their parents are not citizens.
Trump disagrees with that ruling and signed an executive order on his first day in office seeking to change which babies born in the United States become citizens. If that order were implemented, babies whose parents were “unlawfully present in the United States” or whose parents’ presence “was lawful but temporary” would not be eligible for citizenship.
Several organizations and Democratic attorneys general filed lawsuits seeking to block the executive order, leading to nationwide injunctions against its implementation.
Last month, the Trump administration asked the Supreme Court to intervene in the lower court’s nationwide injunctions, limiting them to the organizations and states that filed suit.
The three cases are Trump v. State of Washington, Trump v. CASA, Inc. and Trump v. State of New Jersey.
Legislation
Nationwide injunctions by lower court judges have become an issue for Republicans in Congress as well as the Trump administration.
Iowa Republican Sen. Chuck Grassley introduced a bill in Congress that would bar federal district court judges from being able to implement nationwide injunctions.
“We all have to agree to give up the universal injunction as a weapon against policies we disagree with,” Grassley said during a hearing earlier this month. “The damage it causes to the judicial system and to our democracy is too great.”
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.
