Image Credit: Senator Marsha Blackburn / Facebook & Cameron Sexton / Facebook
***Note from The Tennessee Conservative – this article posted here for informational purposes only. Per The Tennessee Lookout’s Republishing Guidelines, this article has been edited for writing style & length.***
By Sam Stockard [Tennessee Lookout -CC BY-NC-ND 4.0] –
Two top Tennessee Republicans are objecting to a funding request by Nashville’s mayor for an immigrant advocacy group, saying it could violate the state’s anti-sanctuary city law.
U.S. Sen. Marsha Blackburn, a gubernatorial candidate, said in a post on X this week that Tennesseans should be “outraged” that Mayor Freddie O’Connell is seeking $735,000 for the Tennessee Immigrant and Refugee Rights Coalition, or TIRRC. She called the organization a “pro-illegal alien nonprofit.”
“I urge the Metro Council to reject this. Anti-ICE groups like TIRRC should not receive a dime of Tennesseans’ hard-earned money,” Blackburn said in the post.
House Speaker Cameron Sexton agreed in a separate post, saying the budget request could break Tennessee law against sanctuary city activity. He added that the Tennessee District Attorneys General Conference and Comptroller Jason Mumpower “are watching this very closely.”
“This year the House passed legislation to expose through transparency these groups who violate our state laws. We look forward to bringing it back next year!” Sexton said in the post.
An item in the Metro budget plan lists the request under recreational, cultural, conservation and community support and notes that TIRRC is a statewide immigrant and refugee-led collaboration whose mission is “build power, amplify our voices and organize communities to advocate for our rights.”
The funding provides legal services to immigrants in Nashville, according to Lisa Sherman Luna, TIRRC’s executive director. One in 10 Nashville residents were born abroad and it is not illegal to provide legal representation to immigrants, Sherman Luna noted.
“For those who face challenges navigating a complex and often outdated immigration legal system, we are proud to provide high quality legal services and support,” she said in an emailed statement. “Every day we help individuals who have chosen Nashville as their home pursue citizenship and a stable and dignified future for their families.
“Providing legal services to our neighbors should be celebrated regardless of political agenda,” she said. “But unfortunately, the groups that provide this support often come under attack because these services are in direct contradiction to a loud, angry minority’s narrow vision of who gets to be a Tennessean.”
“We won’t be deterred in our mission to serve and defend our neighbors and to build a welcoming, thriving Tennessee where our shared values, not the color of our skin or our place of birth, define who belongs,” she said.
Sexton also butted heads with O’Connell last year over a federal-state sweep of an immigrant neighborhood in South Nashville where officers arrested nearly 200 people during traffic stops.
A spokesperson for the mayor’s office did not respond to a request for comment Thursday.
One Response
REJOICE TENNESSEE CONSERVATIVES!!! For the first time in memory, no matter who wins the Republican primary for governor, Tennessee will have a solid conservative governor come January. Indeed, can you imagine a centrist/tepid conservative like Haslam or Lee reacting to Freddie’s budget request the way Marsha did?
What will it be like to have a real conservative Republican governor? I get positively giddy at the prospect!