Tennessee Senate Passes Bill Requiring Schools Check Immigration Status of Students

Tennessee Senate Republicans passed legislation that will require all Tennessee schools to verify citizenship or legal immigration status from incoming students despite some GOP opposition and heated protests in the Capitol.

The controversial education measure would also allow Tennessee schools to charge tuition for students who can’t prove their status and deny enrollment to students who can’t pay.

The bill passed on a 19-13 vote after an at-times emotional debate, with multiple opponents of the bill asking lawmakers to refer to their Christian faith when making a decision about policy aimed at children.

Despite the support from high-ranking Republicans, support for the measure has not fallen neatly down party lines.

On April 10, seven Republicans voted against the measure. Sen. Todd Gardenhire, R-Chattanooga, and Senate Pro Tem Ferrell Haile, R-Gallatin, were among the GOP lawmakers who voted against the measure in committee and on the Senate floor, each resistant to the idea of drawing children into an immigration policy debate.

Haile rose on the Senate floor, where he sits next to sponsor Sen. Bo Watson, R-Hixson, to oppose the bill, reciting a Bible verse from Ezekial that the “child will not share the guilt of the parent, nor the parent share the guilt of the child.”

The senior Republican said he agrees with the fundamental goal of Watson’s legislation. Haile thinks the state does need a way to determine how many students in Tennessee are in the country without legal status, and if the population is “costing the state of Tennessee to educate those who are not legally present.”

“I believe that we are punishing children for the wrongdoing of their parents,” Haile said. “I don’t think that’s the proper way to do it. We need to address the issue itself, rather than using children as a pawn in this.”

Sen. Page Walley, R-Savannah, said he believes parents of undocumented students should be held accountable if they’ve broken the law. But he opposes the bill due its impact on children.

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The Senate bill remains at odds with its House companion, which faces a final committee hearing the week of April 14 before it can go to a full House vote. As the legislature races toward an end to its 2025 legislative session, expected within the next two weeks, the immigration measure will likely face last-minute negotiations.

Watson insisted on the Senate floor the bill is “permissive,” meaning schools can decide whether to charge tuition or block enrollment.

But the bill does contain a mandate on schools to verify citizenship or immigration status. The House sponsor, House Majority Leader William Lamberth, R-Portland, has repeatedly said he does not want to issue a statewide mandate.

Watson suggested on the Senate floor nonprofit organizations might step up to pay tuition costs for students who can’t pay, stating children won’t necessarily be blocked from education as a result of the bill.

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The legislation has drawn repeated protests from education and immigrant advocates, and hundreds of protestors lined the halls outside the Senate chamber on April 10 as lawmakers inside the chamber debated the measure.

In the Senate gallery, protestors held aloft signs that read, “let kids learn” and “kindness is a virtue.”

With final passage, Senate Bill 836 officially differs significantly from its companion House bill. Both House and Senate sponsors were initially on the same page about the measure, even issuing a joint press release when the bill was filed, but the bills have since diverged.

The Senate version would place a mandate on Tennessee schools to collect citizenship or immigration documents, though schools could then decide individually what to do with local children seeking to enroll. The House version would allow, but not require, schools to collect the same documentation.

If a version of the bill becomes law, it will almost certainly trigger a lawsuit.

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