TN Republicans' bill would oust officials who release 'confidential' immigration enforcement details

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Top Tennessee Republican lawmakers have proposed a bill that would make it a felony and grounds for removal if public officials jeopardize the safety of federal law enforcement officers or disrupt federal immigration enforcement by revealing confidential operation details.
The bill, filed by House Speaker Cameron Sexton and Senate Majority Leader Jack Johnson on June 9, comes after a weeklong operation by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement in Nashville in early May. The operation led to hundreds of traffic stops, in coordination with the Tennessee Highway Patrol, and nearly 200 arrests.
Nashville Mayor Freddie O'Connell has been under scrutiny from state and federal Republican leaders over his response to the arrests. During the operation, O'Connell updated an existing executive order that requires city departments to report communications with federal immigration officials to the mayor's office, tightening the timeline for those reports.
Even in its original version, the executive order included a provision that those communications be posted online for transparency. When O'Connell's office posted that list in late May, it originally included the names of some officials who called. Those names have since been removed from the version of the spreadsheet posted online.
During the sweeps in Nashville, O'Connell also repeatedly asked federal officials to release the names and charges of the people arrested, but to no avail.
Some community members, meanwhile, were outspoken in their opposition to the operation. Immigrant rights groups and other Nashvillians showed up to protest at Nashville's ICE office not long after the sweeps began on May 4. That opposition extended to further protests several weeks later, an appearance from New Jersey Sen. Cory Booker and a volunteer effort to monitor and verify ICE activity.
U.S. Rep. Andy Ogles and other D.C. Republicans have since called for a federal investigation into O'Connell, which was officially initiated on May 30. Meanwhile, Sexton called for O'Connell to rescind his executive order, saying it risks the safety of federal immigration agents.
"The people of Tennessee expect their elected leaders to protect law enforcement — not endanger them," Johnson said in a June 9 news release. "When a public official like Mayor O'Connell chooses political activism over public safety, especially by interfering with federal immigration enforcement, he has no business holding office in this state."
Johnson said he hopes the legislation "sends a message" to O'Connell and other "blue city" leaders that may act similarly.
'Mayor O'Connell's public refusal to rescind his executive order makes the need for this legislation unmistakably clear to prevent future political defiance that undermines the rule of law and puts law enforcement at risk,' Johnson said in the release.
Sexton and Johnson did not provide any examples of O'Connell's interference with immigration enforcement operations.
The bill would make it a Class E felony for state or local officials to "negligently release" information that identifies officers tasked with immigration enforcement and paves the way to oust those who violate the law, according to the release.
Additionally, it expands provisions under the Tennessee Public Records Act to protect undercover officers and sensitive enforcement activity and beefs up penalties for unauthorized disclosures of protected law enforcement information.
The bill is backed by top Senate Republicans, including Lt. Gov. Randy McNally, Speaker Pro Tempore Ferrell Haile, Republican Caucus Chair Ken Yager and Finance Committee Chair Bo Watson. It is set to be taken up in the 2026 legislative session.
O'Connell's office had not responded to The Tennessean's request for comment by 11 a.m. on June 10.
The move by Tennessee Republicans comes a few days after U.S. Sen. Marsha Blackburn, R-Tennessee, introduced legislation to make it illegal to 'dox' federal law enforcement officials. She said the bill is a direct response to the spreadsheet published by O'Connell's office detailing recent communications between city departments with federal immigration agents.
Blackburn filed the Protecting Law Enforcement From Doxxing Act on June 4, explicitly naming O'Connell as the impetus. That bill would make it illegal to 'publish the name of a federal law enforcement officer with the intent to obstruct a criminal investigation or immigration operation.' An individual found guilty of doing so would face a fine and imprisonment of five years.
In their joint news release on June 9, Sexton and Johnson praised Blackburn's efforts and say their proposed legislation complements her proposal.
"Tennessee has always stood with law enforcement and we will not allow politically motivated actors to put officers' lives in danger simply to score political points with the far left," Sexton said in the release. "Tennessee will not become California, and Nashville will not become LA or San Francisco on our watch."
Typically, "doxxing" refers to the act of publicly providing personally identifiable information about an individual or organization, usually via the internet, such as their home addresses, private contact information and names of family members. As for the public availability of law enforcement officers' names, they are not typically considered private information.
This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: TN bill would punish officials who reveal immigration enforcement details