Feds Have Tied The Hands Of TN Law Enforcement On Illegal Immigration, Tennessee Leadership Refuses To Push Back

Image credit: Wannapik Studio / CC & Ken Lund / CC

The Tennessee Conservative [By Kelly M. Jackson] –

The Tennessee Conservative recently reported on a Honduran foreign national that had been arrested recently for two separate murders in Nashville. The man had been deported from the United States twice already only to access the United States, and then make his way up to Tennessee. And now, 2 Tennesseans are dead. 

There is also the recent story of Camilo Hurtado Campos, a Franklin soccer coach who this past summer was discovered to have been abusing the children he had access to through the soccer league he volunteered with.

The allegations are that Campos, 63, drugged and raped nearly a dozen young boys. It was after his arrest, that he revealed to authorities that he had been living in the US illegally for nearly 20 years. The children he has most recently been accused of abusing are the most recent victims, the ones we know about. How many others are there that span the nearly two decades of Campos’s residence here in Tennessee? 

An update on the number of illegal aliens in the United States for the year to date is about 16.3 million. In Tennessee, the estimate for the state is about 128,000, though other estimates found via research indicated as many as 170,000. 

While our Constitution does provide states with the ability to mostly govern themselves, implement and enforce their own laws and policies, it becomes trickier when it comes to immigration law. The federal government has decidedly assumed and provided “guidance” to state and local law enforcement mechanisms, restricting their responses to violations of civil immigration law to “cooperation” with the federal government. 

According to the Department of Homeland Security, under the Supremacy Clause in The Constitution, the assignment of immigration law and enforcement of those laws is given to the federal government, and in order to comply with a “cooperation only” approach, states are relegated to a prone position, at least, under The Biden Administration. The enforcement of federal laws usurps the states, and the states, in order to keep from violating this dominant/submissive relationship between themselves and the DHS, refrains from acting any more aggressively than allowed. 

This marks a stark contrast from the Trump administration’s blessing on state and local law enforcement to facilitate programs and plans to actively seek out and hand over any of those whom they discover had been residing in the US illegally for possible prosecution and deportation by the US government. 

When Tennesseans ask themselves why our state and local officials are not doing more to aggressively tackle this issue with illegal immigration in our state, and then take those questions to those officials, they are often met with a shoulder shrug and a complaint about the federal government and what has happened to our southern border.

And while those responses have some legitimacy, it leaves citizens to wonder why our state isn’t pushing back on those policies with lawsuits, arguing the severe and in some instances, life-altering  damages that befall Tennesseans because of the conveniently complacent attitude of our state and local government officials. 

The legal complications and even somewhat veiled threats from the federal government should states become more aggressive in their efforts to abate illegal immigration in their states, seems to be the primary driver of complacency. The U.S. Constitution is unique because it gives The People who live under it, the right to bring redress to their government, and hold them accountable.  

It seems reasonable that as the number of people who experience harm from those who illegally entered our country increases, the states could address the issue with legal means of accountability in order to fortify its rights to protect the citizens of those states. 

Back in 2018, State Representative Jay Reedy (R-D74-Erin) and then State Senator Mark Green (R-USC D7) created a state policy HB2315/SB2332, that states: “Immigration – As enacted, prohibits state and local governmental entities and officials from adopting sanctuary policies; enacts other related provisions. – Amends TCA Title 4; Title 7; Title 8; Title 9; Title 38; Title 39 and Title 40”. The law that went into effect without Governor Bill Haslam’s signature. 

Note: This is a segment of The Tennessee Conservative’s expansive piece entitled “What Tennessee’s Republican Leadership Doesn’t Want You To Know About Illegal Immigration” which can be read in its entirety HERE.

About the Author: Kelly Jackson is a recent escapee from corporate America, and a California refugee to Tennessee. Christ follower, Wife and Mom of three amazing teenagers. She has a BA in Comm from Point Loma Nazarene University, and has a background in law enforcement and human resources. Since the summer of 2020, she has spent any and all free time in the trenches with local grassroots orgs, including Mom’s for Liberty Williamson County and Tennessee Stands as a core member.  Outspoken advocate for parents rights, medical freedom, and individual liberty. Kelly can be reached at kelly@tennesseeconservativenews.com.