By Andy Cordan Published: August 7, 2015, 5:11 pm Updated: August 7, 2015, 6:14 pm

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WKRN) – The GOP debate and specifically Donald Trump’s brash comments were the talk of morning news programming.

But once the smoke cleared, one of the important topics to come out of last night’s event was immigration reform, specifically border security.

What can be done? What is being done?

Senator Jim Tracy says Tennessee’s law could be a model for the nation. In 2009, he helped pass a bill he calls the Anti-Sanctuary City Law.

The bill makes it illegal for any municipality in the state to pass an ordinance that would bypass federal laws concerning illegal aliens.

The phrase sanctuary city became more well-known this summer when a San Francisco woman was allegedly killed by an illegal alien with a felony record.

Many questioned why the man was in this country to begin with.

It turns out he was here because San Francisco is a sanctuary city, a jurisdiction where local police and federal immigration authorities don’t always communicate with one another about offenders.

Sen. Tracy says no Tennessee city is a sanctuary city and local police departments, like Metro, work well with the feds when it comes to illegal immigrants.

“Like that guy in San Francisco, he went over five times and come back,” Tracy said. “San Francisco has an ordinance where they are just not going to cooperate with the federal law.”

Tennessee’s law requires police officers and local jails to notify federal immigration officials if a suspect is not here legally.

Tracy says “the city cannot pass an ordinance that keeps them from enforcing the federal law.”

A well-known immigration attorney told News 2 he has no problem with sanctuary city legislation as long it protects the rights of each person.

“I do object if I.C.E. comes and picks up a person who has not been found guilty of a crime and that person has been released on a bond,” said Elliott Ozment. “The judicial process should be able to run its course.”

Ozment explained I.C.E., Immigration Customs Enforcement, can get a person scheduled for release from jail, and Metro will “gladly” turn that person over.

“There is nothing wrong with that if that is what I.C.E. wants to do,” he added. “What has prompted sanctuary city movements is I.C.E. required cities to violate the constitutional rights of people they were holding in jail.”

According to Sen. Tracy, there are federal funds available to local governments for expenditures related to immigration enforcement.

Tracy’s office urges any citizen who feels their city isn’t abiding by the law to call his office.

Melinda J. McDowell Director of Communications Davidson County Sheriff’s Office, told News 2 the following facts:

631 offenders held for I.C.E. – These are not local arrestees. These are arrestees that I.C.E. has asked them to house temporarily.

1,157 offenders who were flagged for review stemming from an arrest

1,272 offenders who were arrested foreign born nationals (including foreign-born citizens)

According to McDowell, the jail’s participation in the 287 G program, which aggressively identified and dealt with illegal aliens, was discontinued in 2012.

“We still hold inmates for ICE when they request us to do so, the program still exists nationally but on a smaller scale than before,” she explained.

When asked why Davidson County discontinued the program, McDowell said, “The numbers of illegal arrestees dipped so low that we weren’t making an impact any longer. It didn’t make fiscal sense to staff the positions with such low numbers.”


http://wkrn.com/2015/08/07/tennessee...al-immigrants/