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HB2018 • 2026

Immigration

AN ACT to amend Tennessee Code Annotated, Title 4; Title 7; Title 38 and Title 41, relative to enforcement of immigration laws.

Active

The official status still shows this bill as active or still awaiting another formal step.

Sponsor
Cochran, Taylor
Last action
2026-04-09
Official status
Received from House, Passed on First Consideration
Effective date
Not listed

Plain English Breakdown

The official source material does not provide details on potential impacts on relationships between law enforcement and immigrant communities, making this an area of uncertainty.

Tennessee Immigration Enforcement Act

This bill requires Tennessee law enforcement agencies to accept and follow immigration detainers from federal authorities starting on or after July 1, 2026.

What This Bill Does

  • Requires local police in Tennessee to hold people for up to two days if the federal government asks them to do so through an immigration detainer.
  • Local police must keep someone in custody even if they would normally be released, to give federal agents time to take over.
  • Police need to tell federal authorities as soon as possible before letting a person go who is on an immigration detainer.

Who It Names or Affects

  • Local law enforcement agencies in Tennessee
  • People who might be detained by local police and then handed over to federal immigration authorities

Terms To Know

Immigration detainer
A request from the federal government for a local police department to hold someone so that federal agents can take them into custody.
287(g) program
A program where local law enforcement officers are trained and authorized by the federal government to enforce certain immigration laws.

Limits and Unknowns

  • The bill does not specify what happens if a local police department cannot hold someone for two days due to holidays or weekends.
  • It is unclear how this will affect relationships between local law enforcement and immigrant communities in Tennessee.

Amendments

These notes stay tied to the official amendment files and metadata from the legislature.

Amendment 1-0 to SB1486

Plain English: The amendment requires Tennessee law enforcement agencies to hold individuals for up to two days beyond their release date if federal immigration authorities request them to do so through an immigration detainer.

  • Law enforcement must now accept and follow any immigration detainers from federal authorities, which means holding someone in custody for up to 48 hours after they would normally be released to give federal agents time to take over.
  • The amendment does not specify what happens if federal immigration authorities do not arrive within the 48-hour period.
  • It is unclear how this will affect local law enforcement resources and procedures.
Amendment 2-0 to SB1486

Plain English: The amendment requires Tennessee sheriff's departments participating in a federal program to hold individuals for up to two days beyond their release date if requested by federal immigration authorities.

  • Adds new subsection (d) to Tennessee Code Annotated, Section 7-68-105, which mandates that sheriff's departments must comply with federal immigration detainers and keep individuals in custody for up to 48 hours beyond their release date.
  • The amendment does not specify what happens if the federal authorities do not arrive within the 48-hour period.
  • It is unclear how this will affect sheriff's departments that are not currently participating in the federal program mentioned.

Bill History

  1. 2026-04-10 Tennessee General Assembly

    Placed on Senate Regular Calendar for 4/14/2026

  2. 2026-04-09 Tennessee General Assembly

    Received from House, Passed on First Consideration

  3. 2026-04-06 Tennessee General Assembly

    Engrossed; ready for transmission to Sen.

  4. 2026-04-06 Tennessee General Assembly

    Sponsor(s) Added.

  5. 2026-04-06 Tennessee General Assembly

    Passed H., Ayes 72, Nays 23, PNV 1

  6. 2026-04-02 Tennessee General Assembly

    H. Placed on Regular Calendar for 4/6/2026

  7. 2026-04-01 Tennessee General Assembly

    Placed on cal. Calendar & Rules Committee for 4/2/2026

  8. 2026-04-01 Tennessee General Assembly

    Recommended for passage with amendment/s, refer to Senate Calendar Committee Ayes 9, Nays 1 PNV 0

  9. 2026-03-31 Tennessee General Assembly

    Placed on Senate Finance, Ways, and Means Committee calendar for 4/1/2026

  10. 2026-03-31 Tennessee General Assembly

    Action deferred in Senate Finance, Ways, and Means Committee to 4/1/2026

  11. 2026-03-25 Tennessee General Assembly

    Rec. for pass; ref to Calendar & Rules Committee

  12. 2026-03-24 Tennessee General Assembly

    Placed on Senate Finance, Ways, and Means Committee calendar for 3/31/2026

  13. 2026-03-18 Tennessee General Assembly

    Placed on cal. State & Local Government Committee for 3/24/2026

  14. 2026-03-18 Tennessee General Assembly

    Action def. in State & Local Government Committee to 3/24/2026

  15. 2026-03-11 Tennessee General Assembly

    Placed on cal. State & Local Government Committee for 3/18/2026

  16. 2026-03-10 Tennessee General Assembly

    Rec. for pass by s/c ref. to State & Local Government Committee

  17. 2026-03-09 Tennessee General Assembly

    Sponsor(s) Added.

  18. 2026-03-09 Tennessee General Assembly

    Recommended for passage with amendment/s, refer to Senate Finance, Ways, and Means Committee Ayes 7, Nays 2 PNV 0

  19. 2026-03-04 Tennessee General Assembly

    Placed on s/c cal Departments & Agencies Subcommittee for 3/10/2026

  20. 2026-03-04 Tennessee General Assembly

    Placed on Senate Judiciary Committee calendar for 3/9/2026

  21. 2026-03-03 Tennessee General Assembly

    Action Def. in s/c Departments & Agencies Subcommittee to 3/10/2026

  22. 2026-02-25 Tennessee General Assembly

    Placed on s/c cal Departments & Agencies Subcommittee for 3/3/2026

  23. 2026-02-17 Tennessee General Assembly

    Action deferred in Senate Judiciary Committee to 3/10/2026

  24. 2026-02-11 Tennessee General Assembly

    Placed on Senate Judiciary Committee calendar for 2/17/2026

  25. 2026-02-04 Tennessee General Assembly

    Assigned to s/c Departments & Agencies Subcommittee

  26. 2026-02-04 Tennessee General Assembly

    P2C, ref. to State & Local Government Committee

  27. 2026-02-02 Tennessee General Assembly

    Intro., P1C.

  28. 2026-01-22 Tennessee General Assembly

    Filed for introduction

  29. 2026-01-14 Tennessee General Assembly

    Passed on Second Consideration, refer to Senate Judiciary Committee

  30. 2026-01-13 Tennessee General Assembly

    Introduced, Passed on First Consideration

  31. 2025-12-16 Tennessee General Assembly

    Filed for introduction

Official Summary Text

Present law authorizes a
law enforcement agency
to
negotiate the terms of an agreement between the law enforcement agency and the appropriate federal official under
the 287
(g)
program
, concerning the enforcement of federal immigration laws, without approval from the governing body of the local government that the agency serves.

Any memorandum of agreement negotiated pursuant to
the 287(g) program
must
meet all of the following criteria:



Be entered into in accordance with federal law
.


Require that each officer employed by the law enforcement agency be trained in accordance with the memorandum of agreement concerning
the
officer's role in enforcing federal immigration laws, in accordance with
the 287(g) program.


Allow for the enforcement of federal immigration laws to the full extent permitted under federal law.

This bill requires, on
or after July 1, 2026, the law enforcement agency to accept and honor any immigration detainer received from federal immigration authorities. As used in this
provision
, "accept and honor" means to comply with the requested conditions in the immigration detainer and includes maintaining custody of the subject of an immigration detainer for 48 hours, excluding Saturdays, Sundays, and holidays, beyond the time when the su
bject would have otherwise been released from the law enforcement
agency's custody to allow federal immigration authorities to take custody of the subject and notifying federal immigration authorities as soon as possible prior to releasing the subject of the immigration detainer.

Current Bill Text

Read the full stored bill text 
SENATE BILL 1486
By Taylor

HOUSE BILL 2018
By Cochran
HB2018
009839
- 1 -

AN ACT to amend Tennessee Code Annotated, Title 4;
Title 7; Title 38 and Title 41, relative to
enforcement of immigration laws.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF TENNESSEE:
SECTION 1. Tennessee Code Annotated, Section 7-68-105(b), is amended by deleting
the word "and" at the end of subdivision (2), deleting the period at the end of subdivision (3) and
substituting instead the language "; and", and adding the following new subdivision:
(4) On or after July 1, 2026, require the law enforcement agency to accept and
honor any immigration detainer received from federal immigration authorities. As used
in this subdivision (b)(4), "accept and honor" means to comply with the requested
conditions in the immigration detainer and includes maintaining custody of the subject of
an immigration detainer for forty-eight (48) hours, excluding Saturdays, Sundays, and
holidays, beyond the time when the subject would have otherwise been released from
the law enforcement agency's custody to allow federal immigration authorities to take
custody of the subject and notifying federal immigration authorities as soon as possible
prior to releasing the subject of the immigration detainer.
SECTION 2. This act takes effect July 1, 2026, the public welfare requiring it.