The Tennessee General Assembly wrapped up its annual session this week, with the Republican supermajority signing off on a slate of bills codifying some of the party’s priorities on education and other issues.
Lawmakers expanded the number of school vouchers. They established new state power over the Memphis-area school district, and they put in place additional oversight of the state’s largest airport authorities.
But a central focus of the legislature’s work this year was undocumented immigrants.
Ahead of this year’s legislative session, Republican leaders worked closely with Stephen Miller, a top White House adviser, to craft another round of bills that are viewed as a way to enforce President Trump’s immigration crackdown at the state level.
Gov. Bill Lee, a Republican, has already signed some of the bills, which will go into effect on July 1. He is widely expected to sign the others.
Here’s what some of those bills aim to do.
Driving tests would have an English language requirement.
Despite pushback from Democrats and several immigrant organizations, tests for a drivers license will now effectively have an English language requirement.
If an applicant does not speak English, the person can still take the initial written exam in another language. But the applicant will be able to receive only a nonrenewable, restricted license that expires after 18 months. At the end of that period, the driver will have to take a written exam in English to obtain a permanent license.
Government employees could face jail time for failing to report undocumented immigrants who receive public benefits.
Under a bill approved this month, local and state employees would be required to report to the state, including the General Assembly, instances in which any undocumented person receives services at public hospitals or government social service agencies.
State and local agencies, including health-related ones, are mandated to maintain copies of documentation verifying citizenship, such as a drivers license or passport. They would also be required to report undocumented immigrants to a centralized immigration authority established last year.
Mr. Miller and other Republicans have scrutinized fraud and waste across the country, and targeted undocumented immigrants as part of that campaign.
Local governments could lose state funds for failing to verify immigration status for employees.
State and local government agencies are already required to verify whether a prospective employee is a U.S. citizen or has authorization to work in the United States. Another bill, recently signed into law by Mr. Lee, adds the threat of withholding funding if a government entity is found to have violated that process.
Failure to comply with a final deportation order could lead to jail time or a fine.
Some states have sought to criminalize certain violations of immigration law, and Tennessee is joining that push. Mr. Lee signed a law that makes it a misdemeanor if an immigrant facing an order of removal fails to leave Tennessee within 90 days, or if an undocumented immigrant has entered the state while facing a deportation order. Similar efforts have encountered legal challenges, including in Iowa under the Biden administration.
Tennessee sheriffs will have to cooperate with federal immigration forces.
Under one bill, all Tennessee sheriffs would have to enter into formal cooperation agreements with Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
If they did not by Jan. 1, they would risk losing state funding.
