(The Center Square) – A bill creating a class A misdemeanor for a person illegally in the country with a deportation order was greenlighted by the Tennessee House Judiciary Committee on Wednesday.
The proposed law created by House Bill 1704 would be punishable by up to 12 months in jail. Anyone previously deported or denied entry to the U.S. could also be charged under the bill.
The bill advanced to the House Rules Committee 15-5 along party lines.
Rep. Gloria Johnson, D-Knoxville, said everything she has read indicates the bill is unconstitutional.
“Is that a problem for you?” Johnson asked House Majority Leader William Lamberth, the bill’s sponsor. “Is this one of those Stephen Miller bill at any cost to the Tennessee taxpayer?”
Miller is deputy chief of staff for second-term Republican President Donald Trump.
Lamberth said he liked Tennessee’s record in the U.S. Supreme Court.
“When we were trying to keep doctors from mutilating children and cutting body parts, you all argued it was unconstitutional and the U.S. Supreme Court, they disagreed,” Lamberth said. “We argued you couldn’t kill babies in the womb. You all disagreed with it. Guess what? That got overturned as well.”
Lamberth said legal immigrants were welcome in the state, but those coming illegally needed to “go back to your country.”
“There’s 8.3 billion people in this world,” Lamberth said. “They can’t all fit in the United States and especially in the state of Tennessee.”
Johnson said arrests in raids included legal residents and immigrants illegally in the country. Lamberth said immigrants illegally in the country are committing crimes in Tennessee.
“Last year, there were 41 people that were killed by illegal immigrants in this state; 2,183 violent offenses, 1,582 assaults,” Lamberth said. “There were 145 sexual offenses including child rapes. You may not like the fact that illegal immigrants are committing crimes in this state and they should not be here.”
