Tennessee Senate immigrant education bill clears final committee, still conflicts with House

Yahoo

01-04-2025

A controversial education bill to require Tennessee schools to collect citizenship or legal residency documentation of all students in the state is headed for a full Senate vote, even as the legislation stands at odds with a companion House bill that would not impose requirements on local schools.
The Senate Finance committee voted 7-4 to advance Senate Bill 836, which would require all schools in Tennessee to verify children have legal immigration or visa status, or that they're U.S. citizens, before enrolling them. Schools could then deny to enroll the children who cannot prove their status or charge them tuition to attend the school.
Senate Finance Committee Chair Bo Watson, R-Hixson, has argued undocumented students are potentially a financial drain on Tennessee school resources, citing a rise in English language learners in the state.
But several advocates have testified that legal residents or U.S. citizens account for a majority of English language learners. Additionally, there's no evidence disenrolling undocumented students would save Tennessee any money in education costs.
In fact, due to a provision in the school voucher bill Republicans passed earlier this year, local schools are set to receive a base enrollment amount going forward, even if they lose students to disenrollment under this bill.
Sen. Jeff Yarbro, D-Nashville, pressed Watson on why lawmakers filed legislation directly targeting children as a vehicle for addressing undocumented immigrants in the state, rather than focusing on Tennessee employers who frequently hire undocumented workers across the state.
"If we were so concerned about this problem, we could solve it tomorrow," Yarbro said. "We could pass $1,000-a-day penalties for every employer who hires any undocumented worker. We could shut this down, but in doing so we would shut down every construction project you see outside, every construction project across the state. We'd shut down every meat packing plant, half the agriculture in this state. We could do that. That would at least be going after the people who are relying upon and, in many cases, profiting from undocumented labor. But instead, we're punishing kids."
Yarbro was also critical of the administrative burden the bill could impose on local schools, something Watson dismissed given most public schools already request a birth certificate or similar documentation to determine a student's age.
"That's a process that is already in place. There's nothing new there," Watson said, referencing registration forms from the Department of Education and Memphis city schools as an example. "Most school systems are already requesting this information. Whether they're getting it or not, we don't know, but they're requesting the information. It's already part of the process, so I would argue that any increase in spending on documentation is insignifcant."
But determining legal residency or visa status is likely much more complicated than having a U.S. birth certificate or not.
Recent emergency rules passed by the Tennessee Board of Education to govern the state's voucher program revealed the complexities of determining legal status. State officials will have to review documentation to determine if an applicant student falls under 10 different categories the state recognizes as lawful residency, ranging from asylum seekers to non-citizens granted temporary parole and trafficking victims with pending applications for certain non-immigrant status.
With the Senate bill now headed to the calendar committee, it appears likely the upper chamber could vote on the legislation without the Senate and House sponsors reconciling their versions of the bill.
More: Pledge of Allegiance protests shut down Tennessee General Assembly committees
House Majority Leader William Lamberth, R-Portland, has said in recent weeks he wants the bill to be "permissive" and not impose documentation requirements on schools.
While Watson's bill allows schools to choose whether to block enrollment or charge tuition, it does require all schools to collect status documentation.
SB 836 has emerged as one of the more controversial measures the Republican supermajority is pursuing this session.
The bill has also drawn criticism from some business groups, with the Tennessee Small Business Association this week releasing a statement
"Senator Watson and Rep. Lamberth claim their bill denying education to undocumented children is about starting a fiscal conversation — but that's not true, and they know it,"the organization said. "Undocumented immigrant families already pay into Tennessee's public schools through sales tax — just like everyone else. Tennessee immigrants contribute $4.4 billion in tax revenue every year, including over $900 million from undocumented families alone. Going after children to deny them an education when he knows it is already paid for by immigrants in our state isn't just cruel — it's unethical, fiscally irresponsible, and politically desperate."
Previous committee meetings have drawn hundreds of protestors, though the Tuesday morning finance committee was relatively quiet in comparison to previous debates. Still, the committee gaveled into a recess after a handful of protestors interjected after the vote.
Tennessee Highway Patrol troopers later arrested one protestor, Lynne McFarland, after she refused to move from her seat in the committee room. A trooper later picked up and carried McFarland outside to a patrol car, which was expected to take her downtown for booking.
McFarland's booking charges are not yet available.
This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Tennessee immigration education bill clears final Senate committee