House immigration committee advances bill to create state immigration enforcement division, ban sanctuary policies

Representative Lambeth, sponsor of House Bill 6001, told the House Immigration Committee at an extraordinary session that the bill would create a Centralized Immigration Enforcement Division (CIED) and expand state cooperation with federal immigration enforcement.

The bill would establish the CIED inside the Tennessee Department of Safety, create grant funding to support local participation in the federal 287(g) program, require a distinct marker on certain state-issued licenses for noncitizen lawful permanent residents, and make adopting a sanctuary policy a criminal offense for local officials. The committee approved the bill as amended on a 15-6 roll call and sent it to the Finance Committee.

Why it matters: The proposal touches on public safety, local law enforcement cooperation with federal immigration authorities, fiscal costs for both state and local governments, and potential constitutional questions about criminalizing certain local actions. Testimony at the committee included personal accounts from mixed-status families and legal warnings from the legislature's counsel about possible constitutional problems.

Representative Lambeth opened debate by describing what the bill would do: “This bill would create the CIED division, the Centralized Immigration Enforcement Division,” and provide incentives so local law enforcement can participate in…