Angry Protests Erupt in Tennessee House Over Migrant School Bill

Protests erupted in the Tennessee House of Representatives on Tuesday over legislation that would allow public schools to bar migrant children without legal status from receiving an education.

Why It Matters

Tennessee is among several Republican-led states seeking to implement legislation aligned with President Donald Trump’s hard-line immigration agenda.

The 1982 Supreme Court decision in Plyler v. Doe established that denying children access to public education based on their immigration status was unconstitutional. The 5-4 ruling has ensured that children, regardless of their legal status, have the right to attend public schools. However, some conservative lawmakers have challenged the ruling by seeking to end this right for undocumented immigrants.

What To Know

Last month, Republican House Majority Leader William Lamberth introduced a bill that would grant public K-12 and charter schools in Tennessee the discretion to accept or deny enrollment to students who could not provide proof of legal immigration status.

On Tuesday, the bill advanced through the House K-12 subcommittee, and protesters gathered outside the hallway of the meeting room to express a strong opposition to the bill, chanting, “Shame on you” and “Shut it down.”

The bill was approved in a 5-3 vote, with opposition from the committee’s two Democrats—Representative Yusuf Hakeem of Chattanooga and Representative Sam McKenzie of Knoxville—and Republican Representative Mark White of Memphis.

House Bill 793 would allow school districts and public charter schools to “enroll, or refuse to enroll, a student who is unlawfully present in the United States.”

The bill differs from its companion measure in the Tennessee Senate, sponsored by Senator Bo Watson, a Republican from Hixson. Amended last week, the Senate version would require public schools to verify students’ immigration status. Schools would then be allowed to charge tuition for children who could not prove lawful reside in the United States.

According to the Tennessee Lookout, Giselle Huerta, a co-founder of the child advocacy group Hijos de Inmigrantes, pleaded her case with lawmakers to oppose the bill.

“Is this the Tennessee we want to be, a state that turns its back on children who pledge allegiance to our flag every morning?” she said, according to the outlet.

Lamberth reportedly called it “false hope” to provide an education to children who would go on to face barriers to their professional dreams as adults because of their immigration status.

What People Are Saying

Tennessee House Majority Leader William Lamberth, the bill’s sponsor, said, as quoted in the Tennessee Lookout: “It is false hope to give children the best education available in the world and then tell them they can be licensed professionals, they can be licensed doctors, they can be lawyers, they can be accountants, they can run for office, because it is not true.”

“If they are illegally present, their dreams at some point will have a ceiling and that is inappropriate.”

Damien Felipe Jimenez, a sixth grader in Knoxville, shared his goal of becoming a restaurant owner or scientist with legislators, the outlet said: “I am the son of immigrant parents who have shown me to respect and value everyone. Just like me and all the kids in this country, we have the right to dream and make those dreams come true. The right to an education should not be taken away from us because of our immigration status.”

Giselle Huerta, a co-founder of Hijos de Inmigrantes, said, according to the outlet: “Think about the message we are sending to young children who have known no other home but Tennessee—that they don’t deserve an education, that they don’t belong in a classroom alongside their friends and neighbors.”

Tennessee state Senator Heidi Campbell, a Democrat, told Newsweek in February: “Using government power to single out children and deny them an education is as cruel as it gets. House Bill 793 is the latest moral failure in a state where it’s getting hard to count them all. No child should be punished for where they were born. Wielding state power to discriminate against kids is indefensible. We should be ensuring every child has the opportunity to learn—not deciding which ones deserve a desk in the classroom.”

Tanya T. Coats, the president of the Tennessee Education Association, told Newsweek last month: “The job of Tennessee’s public-school educators is to educate every student who walks through the doors of our great public schools. We ask the General Assembly to not involve educators in making decisions about the legal status of our students or their families.”

What Happens Next

The bill’s next stop is the House Education Committee and the Senate Finance, Ways and Means Committee, though those hearings have not yet been scheduled.

If passed, the bill would likely face legal challenges from civil rights organizations as it conflicts with the Supreme Court’s ruling in Plyler v. Doe.