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Yahoo
21-04-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Tennessee pauses bill targeting right to education regardless of immigration status
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Republican lawmakers in Tennessee have paused a bill meant to challenge the constitutional right for children to attend public schools regardless of their immigration status. Instead, with time waning in the legislative session, they are asking U.S. officials for guidance on whether the bill would jeopardize federal education funding. The direction announced Monday by House Majority Leader William Lamberth, the bill sponsor, diminishes the chances for the bill to pass this year as lawmakers prepare for a likely adjournment this week. The Tennessee Journal first reported on Lamberth's decision. Hundreds of children have packed the Tennessee Capitol this year to oppose the bill that takes aim at the protection established by the landmark 1982 U.S. Supreme Court decision in Plyler v. Doe. That decades-old decision struck down a Texas law that sought to deny enrollment to any student not 'legally admitted' into the country. The Republican-controlled Tennessee Senate has already passed a version of the bill, which would require proof of legal residence to enroll in public K-12 public schools and allows schools to either turn away students who fail to provide proper documentation or charge them tuition. The House version, which remains idle in a subcommittee, differs by letting public schools check immigration status, rather than requiring it. Lamberth noted that Tennessee receives approximately $1.1 billion in federal education money annually. 'We fully trust the Trump Administration will not withhold federal dollars from our schools due to the passage of House Bill 793/Senate Bill 836,' Lamberth said. 'However, out of an abundance of caution, we want to be exceptionally careful before we move forward to ensure no federal taxpayer dollars are at risk.' A growing number of conservative leaders are pushing states to overturn Plyler v. Doe — including the conservative think tank The Heritage Foundation. Tennessee's Republican lawmakers were among the most aggressive in pursuing the idea that directly contradicts Supreme Court precedent. Proponents of the bill have largely downplayed denying children the right to education, but instead have focused on the fiscal impact states are facing in educating children residing in the U.S. illegally. However, it's unclear whether the bill would result in any savings. In opposition, student have broken down in tears in front of legislative committees, distraught over their classmates being removed from their school and worries over who might be next. Lawmakers and other conservative supporters repeatedly point to the 5-4 vote that determined Plyler in 1982, arguing that the narrow margin means there's a better chance the precedent could be overturned by the current Supreme Court. Notably, the court has overturned the right to abortion.
Associated Press
21-04-2025
- Politics
- Associated Press
Tennessee pauses bill targeting right to education regardless of immigration status
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Republican lawmakers in Tennessee have paused a bill meant to challenge the constitutional right for children to attend public schools regardless of their immigration status. Instead, with time waning in the legislative session, they are asking U.S. officials for guidance on whether the bill would jeopardize federal education funding. The direction announced Monday by House Majority Leader William Lamberth, the bill sponsor, diminishes the chances for the bill to pass this year as lawmakers prepare for a likely adjournment this week. The Tennessee Journal first reported on Lamberth's decision. Hundreds of children have packed the Tennessee Capitol this year to oppose the bill that takes aim at the protection established by the landmark 1982 U.S. Supreme Court decision in Plyler v. Doe. That decades-old decision struck down a Texas law that sought to deny enrollment to any student not 'legally admitted' into the country. The Republican-controlled Tennessee Senate has already passed a version of the bill, which would require proof of legal residence to enroll in public K-12 public schools and allows schools to either turn away students who fail to provide proper documentation or charge them tuition. The House version, which remains idle in a subcommittee, differs by letting public schools check immigration status, rather than requiring it. Lamberth noted that Tennessee receives approximately $1.1 billion in federal education money annually. 'We fully trust the Trump Administration will not withhold federal dollars from our schools due to the passage of House Bill 793/Senate Bill 836,' Lamberth said. 'However, out of an abundance of caution, we want to be exceptionally careful before we move forward to ensure no federal taxpayer dollars are at risk.' A growing number of conservative leaders are pushing states to overturn Plyler v. Doe — including the conservative think tank The Heritage Foundation. Tennessee's Republican lawmakers were among the most aggressive in pursuing the idea that directly contradicts Supreme Court precedent. Proponents of the bill have largely downplayed denying children the right to education, but instead have focused on the fiscal impact states are facing in educating children residing in the U.S. illegally. Lawmakers and other conservative supporters repeatedly point to the 5-4 vote that determined Plyler in 1982, arguing that the narrow margin means there's a better chance the precedent could be overturned by the current Supreme Court. Notably, the court has overturned the right to abortion.
Yahoo
18-04-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Tennessee lawmakers back immigration bill that creates a permanent underclass
There is no justification for House Bill 793 and Senate Bill 0836, the sister bills that in the legislature that would allow Tennessee's public and charter schools to deny enrollment to undocumented students. First, as critics have mentioned, the argument that undocumented students create a financial drain on education systems holds little weight. Even undocumented immigrants pay taxes that support local schools. If anything, the legislation will cost money, as the state could stand to lose around $1 billion in federal education funding. And that's to say nothing of the legal fees Tennessee will incur as the lawsuits start rolling in. The Senate version passed on April 10. The House version, which is different in some significant ways, has yet to pass. The legislation directly violates the Supreme Court ruling in 1982's Plyler v. Doe, which determined that states could not deny any child an education, no matter their immigration status. Of course, Rep. Willam Lamberth, R-Portland and Sen. Bo Watson, R-Hixson − the respective sponsors of the House and Senate bills − have made clear that this constitutional challenge is the intent. They want to leverage the (conservative) Supreme Court to re-open the door for schools and districts to refuse to educate undocumented kids. It's an egregiously cruel leg of the right's attempt at immigration 'reform,' but there's an ugly reality that undergirds this attempt to punish children for their parents' decisions. Even with Trump's stated goal of deporting millions of documented immigrants, many of the reported 11 million will likely remain. And they know that those who do − the undocumented children that will later become uneducated adults − will simply assume their predestined position in America's underclass, continuing to serve as part of the overlooked, underpaid fuel that powers this country's economic engine. Education is the great equalizer. Everyone knows this. It's an understanding that transcends race and socioeconomic status. It's the focus of well-to-do parents who want their kids to sustain, and grow, family wealth, as well as the struggling families pushing their children to do more, be more, have more. Education doesn't just divide the haves from the have-nots; its absence reinforces the demarcations that have always existed. It's why the enslaved were forbidden from learning to read and why, in urban districts across America, the Black and Brown still receive a substandard education when compared to their White counterparts. We like to blame these truths on individual flaws − on laziness or an unwillingness to learn, on parents who plop their kids in front of the TV instead of helping with homework. Opinion: Trump's deportations emboldened GOP. But they're going after kids, not criminals Rarely do we consider the systemic. Rarely do we acknowledge that the system is actually designed to replicate, generation after generation, a workforce of millions of uneducated or undereducated people, people who will do the hard labor for the low wages because they have no other choice. During his 2024 campaign, President Donald Trump repeatedly referenced 'Black jobs' while attempting to stoke anger toward the throngs of migrants from Mexico and Central/South America. According to Trump, these immigrants − with their limited language and resources, who typically earn pennies on the dollars in poultry plants, on industrial farms, and similar − have been taking jobs earmarked for Black Americans. It made sense. The Black and Latino have long languished on the bottom rung of America's socioeconomic hierarchy. I won't call it a 'ladder' here, though it is commonplace, because the opportunity to climb from one social class to the next was never part of the American agreement − not for the majority or the Black and Brown. Opinion: Keeping undocumented children out of schools is a civil rights violation For how could we actually allow everyone to 'get a good education' and 'get a good job?' Who, then, who would pick the tomatoes? Who, with reasonable options, would slaughter and defeather the chickens before packing them onto convenient Styrofoam trays of wings and breasts and thighs? Who, with a good education, would perform the grueling, dangerous labor of our most essential jobs − but only at poverty-level wages? The answer is, of course: No one. Because if America's socioeconomic spectrum really is a ladder, the bottom rungs have been slathered with superglue, sticky enough to all but ensure generational poverty. Again, the people at the bottom aren't lazy or stupid. They're destitute and desperate and, too often, devoid of hope. So they keep showing up to do the necessary work that the people with options won't do because, for them, it's the only option. After all, the best, most reliable, way to lock in a perpetual underclass is to strip away any opportunity to rise above that station. And the best, most reliable, way to strip away those opportunities is to block access to a high-quality education, or any education at all. And that's exactly what HB 793 and SB 0836 are designed to do. Andrea Williams is an opinion columnist for The Tennessean and curator of the Black Tennessee Voices initiative. She has an extensive background covering country music, sports, race and society. Email her at adwilliams@ or follow her on X (formerly known as Twitter) at @AndreaWillWrite and BlueSky at @ This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Undocumented students have the right to go to public school | Opinion
Yahoo
10-03-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Memphis rally protests Tennessee immigration bills for schools
MEMPHIS, Tenn. — Local educators, immigrant families, and advocates will gather for a rally on Monday. This comes amid two immigration bills moving through the Tennessee state legislature. Many across the Mid-South are speaking out against recent immigration legislation being proposed at the Tennessee state capitol. We have covered several rallies including the one late last month at Overton Park. Memphians protest proposed TN immigration bills Demonstrators called attention to House Bill 793 and Senate Bill 836, which would prohibit undocumented students from attending public schools, and would force families of undocumented students to pay for their public education. Just last week, the Senate Education Committee narrowly voted to move the bills forward and today, the legislation is up for debate in a House subcommittee. Community activist Jose Salazar is organizing Monday night's rally at Su Casa Family Ministries on North Graham Street starting at 5 p.m. Last month, he told us many students were staying home from class over fears of deportation. 📡 for Memphis and the Mid-South. 📧 and have the latest top stories sent right to your inbox. 'It's really overwhelming seeing all the people scared here. Hearing stories. Hearing kids crying,' said Salazar. The bill's sponsors believe this would ease the burden of illegal immigration on public schools, especially when it pertains to funding. The rally will feature testimonies from students, parents, educators, and community members who are against the proposed bills. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
