NASHVILLE – Tennessee lawmakers gave final approval Wednesday to legislation banning “sanctuary” city policies that critics say require law enforcement to comply with federal requests to hold suspected undocumented immigrants without warrants or probable cause.
The bill easily passed the GOP-led House and Senate by wide margins and now goes to Republican Gov. Bill Haslam for his consideration.
A provision of the bill, sponsored by Rep. Jay Reedy, R-Erin, and Sen. Mark Green, R-Clarksville, would deny state economic and community grants to towns and cities that have so-called “sanctuary city policies.”
Tennessee does not have any sanctuary cities. Last year, the Metro Nashville Council briefly flirted with an ordinance restricting local agencies’ ability to cooperate with federal immigration officials beyond what the law requires. It was dropped.
Majority Republicans in the House beat back an amendment from Democratic Caucus Chairman Mike Stewart of Nashville that sought to punish companies that employ 50 or more “illegal aliens.”