ACLU Challenges Tennessee Law Criminalizing Illegal Immigration
ACLU and immigration advocates file federal lawsuit to block Tennessee law criminalizing undocumented presence, claiming state overreach of federal powers.
NASHVILLE, TENNESSEE — The American Civil Liberties Union and National Immigration Law Center filed a federal lawsuit Thursday to block a new Tennessee law that makes it a state crime for immigrants without legal status to enter or remain in the state.
The legal challenge, filed on behalf of two noncitizens who have lived in Tennessee for decades, seeks class action status to represent “hundreds if not thousands of noncitizens…subject to arrest, detention and prosecution” under the legislation scheduled to take effect July 1.
The plaintiffs argue the law violates the Supremacy Clause of the Constitution by allowing Tennessee to usurp immigration enforcement powers reserved for the federal government. They are requesting both preliminary and permanent restraining orders to prevent state officials from enforcing the statute.
Constitutional Challenge Claims Federal Overreach
“The rule has been clear for well over a century: Immigration enforcement is exclusively a federal power,” said Hannah Steinberg, staff attorney with the ACLU’s Immigrants’ Rights Project.
“The state’s overreach here is unlawful and inhumane, creating fear and upending lives for families, neighbors, and communities across Tennessee,” Steinberg added in her statement.
The new law represents a key component of Tennessee Republicans’ “Immigration 2026” agenda, which emerged from meetings between House Speaker Cameron Sexton and Stephen Miller, a White House advisor who serves as a principal architect of President Donald Trump’s mass deportation policies.
Broader Immigration Enforcement Package
Tennessee lawmakers enacted the immigration criminalization measure as part of a comprehensive legislative package that also includes new immigration verification requirements for public benefits recipients. The agenda requires sheriffs to cooperate with federal immigration authorities in detention and deportation efforts.
Republican leadership, including House Speaker Cameron Sexton and Lt. Gov. Randy McNally, announced the immigration enforcement initiative in January as part of their legislative priorities for the current session.
The federal lawsuit marks the first major legal challenge to Tennessee’s expanded immigration enforcement powers since the Republican-controlled legislature approved the measures earlier this year. Legal observers expect the case could set precedents for similar state-level immigration laws being considered in other jurisdictions.
