Tennessee U.S. Rep. Steve Cohen on Wednesday urged Gov. Bill Lee to revoke a state directive that requires the reporting of approximately 400 sick or disabled children enrolled in a public health program to a state immigration enforcement division.
In a letter to Lee, Cohen called the directive “morally repulsive” and “inhumane.”
“As you wind down your term of governor, consider your Christian background as you implement policies that will define your legacy,” wrote Cohen, a Democrat, citing Biblical passages. Lee, a Republican, is in the last year of his second term in office.
The Tennessee Department of Health this month warned immigrant families with children in the Children’s Special Services program that they would be reported to the state’s Centralized Immigration Enforcement Bureau after June 30 if they continued to receive services.
The directive has raised alarm among public health providers, child and patient advocates and the state’s pediatricians. The Tennessee Chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics has urged the state’s pediatricians to send their own letters in opposition.