Immigration

SENATE BILL 1699
By Akbari

HOUSE BILL 1482
By Salinas
HB1482
010597
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AN ACT to amend Tennessee Code Annotated, Title 4;
Title 7, Chapter 68; Title 12; Title 38; Title 49 and
Title 50, Chapter 1, relative to immigration
enforcement activities.

WHEREAS, the State of Tennessee is committed to ensuring the safety, dignity, and
human rights of all residents, regardless of race, religion, immigration status, or national origin;
and
WHEREAS, civil immigration enforcement activities have historically undermined
community trust, spread fear, and created barriers to accessing essential state services; and
WHEREAS, federal agents have used state and local government infrastructure in
Tennessee, including public parking lots, among other locations, as staging sites for civil
immigration enforcement operations in surrounding areas; and
WHEREAS, Tennessee has long recognized that public safety is best achieved through
trust and collaboration between residents and local government, not through militarization or
deputization of state resources in service of civil immigration enforcement; and
WHEREAS, in conducting civil immigration enforcement activities, law enforcement has
engaged in racial profiling and detaining individuals without due process in violation of
individuals' rights that are protected under the Fourth and Fifth Amendments to the United
States Constitution; and
WHEREAS, the unauthorized use of state resources, property, or personnel to facilitate
civil immigration enforcement actions interferes with the state's authority over, and its use of, its
own resources, property, and personnel; and
WHEREAS, the unauthorized use of state resources, property, or personnel to facilitate
civil immigration enforcement actions also erodes trust between immigrant communities and

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local law enforcement, weakening the relationships that are essential to ensuring public safety
and effective community policing; now, therefore,
BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF TENNESSEE:
SECTION 1. Tennessee Code Annotated, Title 4, Chapter 1, Part 4, is amended by
adding the following as a new section:
(a) As used in this section, "staging area" means an area that is used to
assemble, mobilize, and deploy vehicles, equipment, or materials, and related
personnel.
(b) Notwithstanding a law to the contrary, the following real property must not be
used as a staging area, processing location, or operations base for civil immigration
enforcement activities:
(1) A public parking lot, vacant lot, or garage that is owned and operated
by this state or a political subdivision of this state;
(2) The campus grounds of a public school; public charter school; or
private school, as defined in § 49-6-804; and
(3) Property owned by a religious institution that is exempt from property
taxes under § 67-5-212.
(c) For purposes of complying with subdivision (b)(1), state and local
government entities shall collaborate to identify publicly owned and controlled parking
lots, vacant lots, and garages that either have been used, or are likely to be used in the
future, as a staging area, processing location, or operations base for civil immigration
enforcement.
(d) A person who is responsible for the operation of real property described in
subdivision (b)(1) or (b)(2) shall, and a person who is responsible for the operation of
real property described in subdivision (b)(3) may:

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(1) Use, wherever appropriate, physical barriers such as locked gates to
limit access to the property; and
(2) Develop and implement procedures and policies necessary to
implement this section. Any such procedures and policies developed and
implemented for real property described in subdivision (b)(2) or (b)(3) must
provide that:
(A) A school or church employee, as applicable, who becomes
aware of the attempted or actual use the property as a staging area,
processing location, or operations base for civil immigration enforcement
shall immediately report such attempted or actual use to their supervisor;
and
(B) A supervisor who becomes aware of the attempted or actual
use of the property as a staging area, processing location, or operations
base for civil immigration enforcement, either through the supervisor's
own observation or a report made pursuant to subdivision (d)(2)(A), shall
report such attempted or actual use to the city mayor's office, if the
property is located within the jurisdiction of a municipality, or the county
mayor's office, if the property is located outside the jurisdiction of a
municipality, and local law enforcement.
(e) The department of safety, in consultation with the attorney general and
reporter, shall produce materials that provide general information concerning the rights
of employees, students, security staff, and partitioners regarding entry to real property by
federal agents. State government departments and agencies shall make the materials
available to the public.

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(f) This section does not restrict or interfere with the execution of lawful judicial
warrants or the enforcement of criminal law, nor does it limit the rights of any person
under state or federal law.
(g) This section does not prohibit the use of state-owned and -controlled
property for purposes other than a staging area, processing location, or operations base
for civil immigration enforcement, nor does it restrict any person from carrying out
functions unrelated to those purposes on such property.
SECTION 2. This act takes effect upon becoming a law, the public welfare requiring it.