Bo Watson wins contest for most inhumane senator with undocumented students bill
Editor's note: Letters to the editor reflect the views of individual readers. Scroll to the bottom to see how you can add your voice, whether you agree or disagree. We welcome diverse viewpoints.
Tennessee state Sen. Bo Watson, R-Hixson, stood before the Senate Education Subcommittee Wednesday and put forth a bill that would require undocumented children to pay tuition to attend public school in this state.
He proudly claimed the bill was being brought under the guise of 'fiscal responsibility.' But we all know this was pretext for a far more nefarious purpose.
With this bill, Mr. Watson has doubled down on his run to be the most inhumane member of the General Assembly.
Between this bill, SB0836, and his legislation felonizing elected officials voting in favor of sanctuary cities, he has truly distinguished himself as a senator to be ashamed of.
The supermajority in the General Assembly is increasingly emboldened to pass bigoted and reprehensible legislation because they have the votes.
Opinion: Democrats won't root for America unless they are in charge. That's shameful.
Tennessee is the birthplace of the Ku Klux Klan. We should be moving away from this checkered past, not sliding back towards the same ideologies that birthed that hate group in the first place.
Our state and its most vulnerable residents, undocumented children who have no blame for their legal status, deserve better.
John Baxter, Nashville 37209
Agree or disagree? Or have a view on another topic entirely? Send a letter of 250 words or fewer to letters@tennessean.com. Include your full name, city/town, ZIP and contact information for verification. Thanks for adding to the public conversation.
This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Tennessee bill targeting undocumented students is inhumane | Letters
Hashtags

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
13 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Klobuchar on slain Minnesota Democratic lawmaker: ‘The most incredible person'
Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.) on Sunday remembered former Minnesota state Speaker Melissa Hortman (D) as 'the most incredible person,' a day after Hortman and her husband, Mark, were fatally shot in what officials are calling a politically motivated shooting. 'Melissa Hortman is the most incredible person, that I wish everyone in the nation knew her, went into politics with little kids. That's how I got to know her,' Klobuchar told CNN's Dana Bash on 'State of the Union.' 'She was extraordinary. And so, when you hear about political violence, Dana, you have got to look at the face of this woman and understand how real this is,' she added. Hortman and her husband were fatally shot at their home early Saturday morning, officials said. State Sen. John Hoffman (D) and his wife were also shot and wounded. Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz (D) said the attacks were politically motivated. Minnesota law enforcement officials identified the suspect as Vance Boelter, 57. The FBI has launched a manhunt for Boelter, and a $50,000 award is being offered for information leading to his arrest and conviction in the killing of Hortman and her husband and the shooting of Hoffman and his wife. Klobuchar also talked about Hortman on NBC News's 'Meet The Press,' where she told host Kristen Welker that she had dined with Hortman at a 'big political dinner' hours before she died, where they celebrated the end of the legislative session. 'I just wish everyone in the political world knew this woman like we know her in Minnesota, loved by Democrats and Republicans,' she said. 'We started out together in politics, moms with young kids. And somehow she was able to balance getting to know every door knock, every house in her district while raising two children.' Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
13 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Minnesota gunman ‘motivated by hatred of abortion'
The gunman suspected of fatally shooting a Democratic politician and her husband in their Minnesota home was an evangelical Christian who had a list of targets of people who advocated for abortion. Vance Luther Boelter, 57, is said to have 'hated' abortion but had kept quiet about it for years, according to a friend of more than five decades. Police are searching for Mr Boelter after Melissa Hortman, the Democratic speaker in Minnesota's House of Representatives, and her husband were shot dead in the early hours of Saturday. John Hoffman, a Democratic state senator, and his spouse were also shot multiple times. Both have undergone surgery and are expected to survive. Mr Boelter, an evangelical Christian who travelled to Africa and the Middle East to preach, left a list of targets including Democrats and figures linked to Planned Parenthood or the pro-choice movement in his car, according to reports. He is alleged to have impersonated a police officer and drove what appeared to be a police SUV equipped with emergency lights to carry out the attack. Mr Boelter also had fliers for anti-Trump 'no kings' protests in his car. Ms Hortman used her position as speaker in 2023 to champion expanded protections for abortion rights, including legislation to solidify Minnesota's status as a refuge for patients from restrictive states who travel to the state to seek abortions – and to protect providers who serve them. Amy Klobuchar, a Democrat senator for Minnesota, said she believed abortion was a motivation for Mr Boelter. 'It was politically motivated, and there clearly was some throughline with abortion because of the groups that were on the list, and other things that I've heard were in this manifesto. So that was one of his motivations,' she told NBC's Meet The Press. 'We believe he's somewhere in the vicinity and that they are going to find him... But right now, everyone's on edge here, because we know that this man will kill at a second', she said. On Saturday morning the suspect texted David Carlson, a long-standing friend who he lived with for part of the week, saying: 'I've made some choices and you guys don't know anything about this, but I'm going to be gone for a while. I'll be dead shortly. So I just want to let you know that I love you guys both. And wish it hadn't gone this way. 'I don't want to say anything more, and implicate you in any way because you guys don't know anything about this, but I love you guys and I'm sorry for all the trouble this has caused.' Mr Boelter was appointed to the workforce development board in 2016 and then reappointed by Tim Walz in 2019 to a four-year term that expired in 2023. Ms Hoffman served on the same board, though it was not clear if or how well they knew each other. Mr Walz, Kamala Harris's former running mate, is also understood to have been on the list of targets. Donald Trump said he 'may' call Mr Walz about the targeted attacks. 'Well, it's a terrible thing. I think he's a terrible governor. I think he's a grossly incompetent person. But I may, I may call him, I may call other people too,' he told ABC. Mr Walz spoke with JD Vance, the vice-president, on Saturday. Mr Walz expressed thanks for the coordination between federal law enforcement and state public safety officials, according to CNN. The attacks prompted warnings to other state elected officials and the cancellation of planned anti-Trump demonstrations over fears they could be targeted. Some protests went ahead anyway, including one that drew tens of thousands to the State Capitol. Law enforcement agents recovered several AK-style firearms from the suspect's vehicle, and he was believed to still be armed with a pistol, officials said. The shootings happened at a time when political leaders nationwide have been attacked, harassed and intimidated amid deep political divisions. 'We must all, in Minnesota and across the country, stand against all forms of political violence,' Mr Walz said. 'Such horrific violence will not be tolerated in the United States of America. God Bless the great people of Minnesota, a truly great place!' Mr Trump said in a statement. Police responded to reports of gunfire at the Mr Hoffman's home shortly after 2 am, Champlin police said, and found the couple with multiple gunshot wounds. Police sent officers to proactively check on Ms Hortman's home. There they encountered what appeared to be a police vehicle and a man dressed as an officer at the door, leaving the house. 'When officers confronted him, the individual immediately fired upon the officers who exchanged gunfire, and the suspect retreated back into the home' and escaped on foot, said Mark Bruley, the Brooklyn Park police chief. Authorities believe the shooter was wearing a mask when carrying out the attacks, according to a law enforcement official. The FBI released photos of the suspect including an image that appears to show him wearing a mask that covered his face and head, a police uniform, and holding a flashlight. Mr Boelter is chief executive of Praetorian Guard Security Services, and has armed security experience across the Middle East, Africa, Eastern Europe and North America, according to a biography on its website. Broaden your horizons with award-winning British journalism. Try The Telegraph free for 1 month with unlimited access to our award-winning website, exclusive app, money-saving offers and more.
Yahoo
13 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Tom Cotton pressed on 'language' used in 'send in the troops' op-ed, National Guard presence
Sen. Tom Cotton, R-Ark., doubled down on Sunday when pressed by CBS host Margaret Brennan on whether he wanted to use the language he did in his call for President Donald Trump to send in troops to help quell the rioting in Los Angeles. "You wrote an op-ed supporting President Trump's decision to send in federalized national guard troops and active-duty marines to California. You referred to it as the threat from the radical left, a show of force to end the right and talked about communities being terrorized. Given the amount of tension in the country right now, is that really the language to use?" Cotton wrote an op-ed for the Wall Street Journal on Tuesday, a parallel to his infamous 2020 guest essay in the New York Times, saying, "At the risk of again sending liberals to their fainting couches, it may indeed be time to send in the troops." "Yes. When you see left-wing militias throwing bricks and frozen water bottles at police officers and shooting them with fireworks. And unfortunately, you have mayors and governors in some places that won't allow police to maintain order," Cotton responded to the CBS host. "If the governor won't call in the national guard, then the president has to federalize them. We always hope the local police are allowed to do their job and have sufficient numbers to do their job to maintain order and protect innocent life and property. If they can't, or they are not allowed to, the National Guard has to be on scene to restore civil order," Cotton added. Cotton's op-ed came as Trump's decision to send in the National Guard and eventually a group of U.S. Marines was met with pushback from Democrats. Read On The Fox News App The Arkansas Republican wrote in support of Trump's deployment of National Guard and Marine soldiers to Los Angeles over the weekend after anti-ICE riots escalated beyond local police control. His comments echoed similar arguments he made in the wake of the Black Lives Matter riots plaguing major cities in the summer of 2020. Brennan pushed back and said the Los Angeles Police chief insisted they had the rioting under control, as Cotton argued that the chief said last weekend they were stretched thin. Click Here For More Coverage Of Media And Culture Cotton wrote that he was also planning on introducing new legislation that would "stiffen penalties for rioters who attack law enforcement" and "make riot-related crimes a deportable offense." He added the current Republican budget bill provides additional funding for immigration authorities to deport criminal illegal immigrants. "These ideas are basic common sense, but as was the case five years ago, the Democrats haven't learned. It isn't 'inflammatory,' as [California Gov. Gavin] Newsom claimed, to enforce federal law, stand with law enforcement and protect civilians. It's necessary to keep the peace." Cotton wrote. Fox News' Lindsay Kornick contributed to this article source: Tom Cotton pressed on 'language' used in 'send in the troops' op-ed, National Guard presence