A Tennessee Republican state lawmaker proposed a bill aimed at sending undocumented migrants accused of committing minor crimes to sanctuary cities, rather than having them deported. State Rep. Todd Warner’s Tennessee Illegal Immigration Act would also require local law enforcement to notify federal immigration authorities about a migrant’s immigration status.
If U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents do not respond within 48 hours after an undocumented immigrant is charged with a crime, that immigrant would be sent to a sanctuary city.
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Warner argues that his proposal would be a more cost-effective approach for the state when it comes to deportations.
“It seeks to make Tennessee safer,” Warner told Fox 17. “It seeks to make the federal government, you know, hold their feet to the fire and enforce immigration law, and it seeks the state to recoup some costs back out of it.”
Warner also plans to amend the bill to ensure that it applies only to those charged with minor, victimless crimes. Undocumented migrants who commit violent crimes would still go through the judicial process and remain subject to deportation.
Immigration advocates with Tennessee’s Justice for Our Neighbors disagree with Warner’s proposal.
“The mere act of being transported away from your family is damaging,” said Hannah Smalley, the advocacy and education manager at Tennessee Justice for Our Neighbors. “This means that people, including people who have not been charged with crimes, are going to be facing these really punitive consequences just on the basis of their immigration status.”
Warner told Fox 17 that his plan still needs further adjustments.
