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Tennessee Republicans want all students to verify their citizenship, residency, or immigration status as part of an aggressive immigration package they say was developed with the Trump White House.
But there were no details on how exactly the policy that top GOP leaders rolled out on Thursday would play out inside Tennessee schools.
No new legislation has been filed, though it’s possible lawmakers could use a 2025 bill to advance the issue.
Democrats and immigration advocates sharply criticized the proposed policies.
“Teachers don’t need to be worried about where their students are from or how they got here,” said Lisa Sherman Luna, executive director of TIRRC Votes, an immigration advocacy group.
Republican leadership did not say whether local schools or the Tennessee Department of Education would be responsible for verifying immigration status or where such data would be held.
Nor would they say whether the state would require that the immigration status of a student and potentially their family members be reported to federal or state law enforcement.
Republicans want to require local governments to report unverified immigration status of people seeking public benefits to ICE and Tennessee immigration enforcement.
Lawmakers also were unsure whether requiring this verification would jeopardize federal education funding, a concern that stalled a similar bill in 2025.
“I think we’re still waiting for the Department of Education at the federal level to send us some guidance from them on what it looks like on funding,” House Speaker Cameron Sexton, a Republican from Crossville, said. “That’s the biggest question remaining. We’re still working through the issues of what that would look like as far as collecting the data.”
Last year, the GOP supermajority sparked major protests when top Republicans pushed legislation targeting undocumented students in Tennessee schools.
Bill sponsors Sen. Bo Watson, a Republican from Hixson, and House Minority Leader William Lamberth, a Republican from Portland, said at the time they hoped to challenge longstanding U.S. Supreme Court precedent that protects public education access for undocumented children.
Initial versions of the bill would have allowed schools to block undocumented students from enrolling and later charge them tuition.
The sponsors argued that undocumented students could be draining school resources if more English language learners need specialized instruction, for example. Opponents countered that Tennessee schools are significantly funded through sales taxes, which undocumented immigrants pay.
The Senate passed SB 836, but it stalled in the House amid opposition from some Republicans and concerns it would jeopardize federal education funding. HB 793 is still technically live, though, and could move forward in the House at any time in 2026.
Last year, Lamberth said he requested clarification from the U.S. Department of Education about the bill and federal funding questions. Nine months later, it does not appear the state has received any clarification.
Melissa Brown is the bureau chief for Chalkbeat Tennessee. Contact Melissa atmbrown@chalkbeat.org.
