A bill being debated in the Tennessee General Assembly would require law enforcement agencies to follow the proper protocol of reporting illegal alien arrestees to federal authorities.
HB 2124 “requires, rather than authorizes, law enforcement agencies to communicate with the appropriate federal official regarding the immigration status of any individual, including reporting knowledge that a particular alien is not lawfully present in the United States or otherwise cooperate with the appropriate federal official in the identification, apprehension, detention, or removal of aliens not lawfully present in the United States.”
As of Thursday, the bill is on the calendar for debate on the House floor.
In some places in Tennessee, it is standard police protocol to alert federal officials if they arrest an illegal alien.
Other places like Nashville are sanctuary cities, and law enforcement is barred from contacting federal law enforcement in such cases. Notably, nearly 600 illegal aliens recently planned to settle in Middle Tennessee after they arrived in the United States and were processed by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), according to the Department of Homeland Security (DHS).
Far-left Democrats like State Representative Justin Pearson (D-Memphis), whose city is already facing a major crime wave, are opposed to enforcing the law.
“We’ve got enough problems. We don’t need to be adding immigration to local law enforcement,” Pearson reportedly said.
State Representative Jason Powell (D-Nashville) was puzzled about how police would determine whether people without legal documentation are, in fact, illegal aliens.
“How do you go about as a law enforcement officer in determining whether you think someone is legal or not legal?” he asked.
State Representative Rusty Grills (R-Newbern) is the bill’s primary sponsor.
“This bill would clarify that all law enforcement including police and sheriff’s departments would be required to fully cooperate and communicate with the Department of Homeland Security,” he said, adding that arrestees ” just have to prove who [they] are” in order to avoid being reported to DHS.
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Pete D’Abrosca is a reporter at The Tennessee Star and The Star News Network. Follow Pete on Twitter/X.
