Mark Bellinger
9:25 PM, Nov 4, 2015
1 hour ago

NASHVILLE, Tenn. - A Tennessee lawmaker has planned to look at new ways to enforce federal immigration laws, especially immigrant sanctuaries.

The latest effort has targeted safe havens for undocumented immigrants.

Immigration enforcement has always been the federal government's job. If police arrest an undocumented immigrant, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement also known as ICE can place a hold on them at the local jail to start deportation procedures.

Eben Cathey with the Tennessee Immigrant and Refugee Rights Coalition, has argued that doesn't work in some communities.

He argued, instead of making the community safer, the threat of deportation builds a mistrust between immigrants and local police, and the result is more unsolved crime.

Cathey said, "If requests from the federal government are making their community less safe they shouldn't have to honor those."

He also said holding undocumented immigrants for the federal government costs local governments too much money.

The result of his argument has been the creation of safe havens or sanctuaries for undocumented immigrants in cities and counties where local police ignore ICE officials and even provide some services to undocumented immigrants.

There are more than 300 communities across the country known as sanctuary counties and cities. There is not one in Tennessee.

Franklin Republican Representative Jeremy Durham said he wants to keep it that way.

Rep. Durham is drafting legislation that penalizes leaders of Tennessee cities and counties who create sanctuaries and even give undocumented immigrants other benefits like food stamps.

Rep. Durham said, "It's really up in the air how we do that. We may look at a comptroller line item budget. We might look at ECD (economic development) funding, but those are the things I'll be thinking about when we put the legislation together."

Withholding economic development money and letting the comptroller take away an item in a city budget? Can lawmakers do that? Rep. Durham said yes.

Rep. Durham said, "It's because they are legal creatures of the state. The state has powers the federal government doesn't really have directly, and the comptroller is one of those places I think we should consider because there are situations when the comptroller can take control of local budgets and this might be one of those times and we should look at it."

Cathey called the threat of the legislation political posturing in what will be an election year.

Cathey said, "We don't need the state telling us how to do that, and we definitely don't need them trying to get the federal government to come into our municipalities and tell us how best to police our communities."

The legislation was still in the early stages, and Representative Durham said he's open to other ideas on how to penalize cities that pass laws creating havens for undocumented immigrants.

Rep. Durham said, "The idea behind the legislation is to protect Tennessee values and we must make sure our cities and municipalities have the proper deterrence from becoming a sanctuary city."

The issue will be taken up in January when the state legislature reconvenes.

http://www.newschannel5.com/news/loc...ted-immigrants