Tennessee Bill Targets Undocumented Students’ Access to Public Schools

Tennessee Bill Targets Undocumented Students’ Access to Public Schools

NASHVILLE, Tennessee — Tennessee Republicans are pushing legislation that would set up a legal challenge to Plyler v. Doe, the 1982 Supreme Court decision that protects a child’s right to a free K–12 public education regardless of immigration status. As described in the report, the proposed “trigger laws” would be designed to take effect only if Plyler is overturned. The measures would allow schools to deny enrollment to students who cannot prov…

Tennessee Wants to Let Schools Ban Immigrant Kids, Threatening to “End Public Education as We Know It”

Tennessee Republicans are pushing forward with a bill that could force undocumented children out of public education and turn school administrators into immigration informants against their own students, making Tennessee the frontier of an effort led by the Heritage Foundation to fundamentally injure the right to public education. The state’s proposed “trigger laws,” which will be heard in committee on Wednesday, are direct challenges to Plyler …

Tennessee lawmakers soften measure that sought to keep undocumented students out of school

A bill that originally aimed to keep undocumented students out of Tennessee schools is advancing in the statehouse but with key changes. Still, many education and immigration advocates insist that the revised measure remains a threat to all students. Amendment doesn’t jeopardize federal funding One of the most controversial bills introduced during the 2025 legislative session would have allowed public schools to refuse undocumented students or c…