The Tennessee Progressive Caucus is pushing back against state Republicans’ immigration proposals with a slate of their own bills, declaring that “ICE is not welcome in Tennessee.”
Republican leadership has welcomed U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement by partnering with the Trump administration in crafting a massive immigration package. Senate Majority Leader Jack Johnson (R-Franklin) has said the state GOP’s goal with the legislation is “to be the model for the nation.”
In June of last year, state Rep. Justin Jones (D-Nashville) introduced House Bill 1442 — or the “Stop American Gestapo Act” — which would prohibit law enforcement agents from wearing a “mask, face covering, or personal disguise while interacting with the public in the performance of the law enforcement officer's official duties.”
Verification, reporting requirements part of proposed bills filed
“This is not Star Wars — we don't have storm troopers who are anonymous,” Jones said during a press conference Tuesday. “This is the United States of America, and you have law enforcement who said that these folks are acting untrained, unqualified and making it harder for real law enforcement to do their job.”
Earlier this month, state Rep. Gabby Salinas (D-Memphis) introduced HB 1482, which would bar immigration officers from using schools, churches and public parking lots and garages as a “staging area, processing location, or operations base for civil immigration enforcement activities.”
“This is a terrifying moment in American history,” said Rep. Jason Powell (D-Nashville) on Tuesday, adding that he will soon file two related bills. One will be designed to “protect some of the data that people want to have protected that makes them even vulnerable, that ICE is using without warrants to go target people.” The other will aim to “protect workers who are being exploited” from threats of calling ICE on employees in the workplace.
Rep. Gloria Johnson (D-Knoxville) said that she also will soon file two bills. One — “an extension” of Salinas’ bill — will “address hospitals, medical facilities and shelters,” and a second bill will be designed to ensure that “no state dollars will be spent in coordinating or complying with ICE agents.”
State Rep. Justin Pearson (D-Memphis) called for the dismantling of ICE, which he called “a tool of white supremacy” and a “domestic terrorist organization.” Pearson referenced the inaction of people under the rule of Nazi Germany, as well as witnesses to the genocide of Native Americans and enslavement of African Americans.
“We are in that moment now, in this country and in the state of Tennessee,” said Pearson. “We have to stand up against this dictator [Donald Trump]. We have to stand up against these authoritarians and people who are misusing [and] abusing their power against folks in our community, because if any of these people who claim to be Christian actually read the Bible, they would know that you have a responsibility to protect the foreigner. They would have read that you have to care for and love your neighbor. That's what we're doing.”
