Tennessee
Opinion | Tennessee Senate wants to kick undocumented kids out of school
It’s fundamentally cruel to turn away children from public schools based on their immigration status, but the Tennessee Senate advanced a bill that would let its schools do just that. State Sen. Bo Watson has argued that his legislation is about easing financial pressure on school districts, but the bill is more about scapegoating immigrant communities and forcing needless suffering upon their kids.
The bill is more about scapegoating immigrant communities and forcing needless suffering upon their kids.
“Our education system has limited resources, which should be prioritized for students who are legally present in the country,” Watson said earlier this year. Referring to local education agencies, he said, “An influx of illegal immigration can strain LEAs and put significant pressure on their budgets.” He said his bill empowers local governments to manage their resources more effectively and “builds upon the legislative action taken during the special session to address illegal immigration at the local level.”
The bill that the Tennessee Senate passed is a direct challenge to Plyler v. Doe, the 1982 Supreme Court ruling that stopped Texas’ plan to let local school districts either deny admission to undocumented schoolchildren or charge them tuition. In a 5-4 ruling, the court said the 14th Amendment’s equal protection clause means that all children in this country have access to public education. Justice William J. Brennan Jr. noted in the majority opinion that the provisions of the equal protection clause are “universal in their application, to all persons within the territorial jurisdiction, without regard to any differences of race, color, or nationality.”
Plyler v. Doe made clear that these protections apply to all “people” within the United States, not just citizens. This principle has been central to the law for more than four decades and has prevented states from using immigration status to deprive children of their right to attend public school.
But, as you might imagine, the battle over Plyler v. Doe has never truly ended. Republican lawmakers and conservative legal groups have repeatedly pushed to overturn it and dismantle the protections it provides. For them, erasing Plyler is not just about reversing a single Supreme Court case; it’s also about stripping away a core pillar of the 14th Amendment’s promise. Similar bills have been proposed in Texas and Oklahoma.
Tennessee’s bill has now been moved to its lower chamber, and immigrant communities across the state are fighting to stop it from becoming law. Lisa Sherman Luna, the executive director of the Tennessee Immigrant and Refugee Rights Coalition, told me in an email: “Even in the face of unrelenting attacks on their humanity, immigrant families have responded to this latest threat to their children’s futures with power, not panic.” She said, “Tennesseans across race, class, and immigration status recognize the harm these policies would have not only on the children of our state but the entire nation, and have been calling their lawmakers, showing up in committees, and organizing actions in districts to make sure their voices were heard.”
Local parents and educators have also been vocal in their opposition. “I am Latino. My kids have Latino names. And while this bill is targeted directly towards immigrants, it’s primarily, in my opinion, targeted towards the Latino community.” Hamilton County teacher Kyle Carrasco said. “So I fear, just in general, that they’ll have to kind of negotiate some of these stigmas.”
“Unchecked illegal migration over the past three years has possibly cost the public education system billions of dollars,” according to a 2024 post from the Heritage Foundation. “Large influxes of non-English-speaking children also have a negative effect on the classroom. Not only must the federal government secure the border and prevent illegal migration, but states can, and must, also take action.”
Watson and the Heritage Foundation don’t acknowledge the human cost of kicking children out of schools.
What Watson and the Heritage Foundation don’t acknowledge is the undeniable human cost of kicking children out of schools. And the cost to the United States if we normalize the idea that the circumstances of their birth define children’s worth. Kica Matos, president of the National Immigration Law Center, said in an email that, “We’re seeing a groundswell of opposition to this extreme bill, and we’re going to keep fighting to make sure it doesn’t pass. But if it does, we’re ready to respond accordingly.”
A fundamental promise of the 14th Amendment is that all people will be afforded equal protection under the law. That’s what’s at stake here. It’s not the only place it’s at stake, obviously, but in this case, conservatives — and not for the first time — are seeking to block the schoolhouse doors to children.
OKLAHOMA CITY — Tennessee softball’s opponent for the Women’s College World Series semifinals is set.
The No. 7 seed Lady Volunteers (49-10) will face No. 2 Texas (49-12) at Devon Park on June 1 (noon ET, ESPN). Tennessee and Texas played each other in their WCWS opener on May 28. Tennessee won 6-3.
In the previous matchup, Tennessee used both of its top two pitchers, Karlyn Pickens (15-7, 1.58 ERA) and Sage Mardjetko (16-2, 1.06 ERA). Mardjetko started and allowed just one hit in the first four innings. Pickens finished the game, allowing four hits and three runs but still recording the save.
“Knowing we’ve got to make quicker adjustments, we’ve seen them already,” Texas infielder Katie Stewart said of potentially facing Pickens and Mardjetko again. “Still knowing they’re a really good pitching staff and they’re going to bring it. Just being ready for that. I think just going back, watching film, looking at how we got out and building off that.”
Stewart, the SEC Player of the Year and Texas’ leader in batting average, home runs and RBIs, went 0-for-3 in that first game.
Texas coach Mike White is hopeful that the Longhorns’ familiarity with Pickens and Mardjetko from just a few days prior will help them “pick up where they left off.”
All three of Texas’ runs came in the later part of the game, with the Longhorns scoring off a throwing error and a two-run homer hit by Leighann Goode.
However, he also noted that Tennessee has another talented pitcher in Erin Nuwer (15-1, 0.99 ERA), whom the Longhorns could face for the first time.
“Well, it won’t help us if they throw Nuwer at us,” White said. “They have another one that’s out there that’s pretty good. We’re not forgetting her as well.”
Nuwer hasn’t pitched since Game 2 of the super regionals against Georgia, when she allowed two hits, two hit-by-pitches but no runs in 1⅓ innings. Nuwer’s last start was a complete game against Northern Kentucky in regionals on May 15.
“They have the luxury of us having to beat them twice,” White said. “These pitchers are so good now, they’re able to study what we did, what they did. It becomes that cat-and-mouse game of strategy. That’s what we love about the game, is all the strategy, kind of pitching nuances of the game. It’s going to be a fun matchup.”
Tia Reid covers Jackson State sports for the Clarion Ledger. Email her at treid@usatodayco.com and follow her on X @tiareid65.
Tennessee
Nashville’s Eastpoint Neighborhood groundbreaking marks largest affordable housing project in Tennessee
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WTVF) — Nashville’s newest neighborhood is starting to take shape. The Fallon Company broke ground on the Eastpoint Neighborhood, which developers say is the largest affordable housing project and investment in Tennessee right now.
Mayor Freddie O’Connell says the mixed-use development is designed to benefit all families, accommodating incomes from $20,000 to $80,000 a year. In addition to housing, the development will include upgraded parks and green space, on-site childcare, and retail space.
“This is gonna be how we build Nashville’s next great neighborhood,” O’Connell said.
“We’ll have upgraded parks and green space, it will literally have on-site childcare here,” O’Connell said. “Basically all the ingredients that happen in a great neighborhood are going to be here.”
The development comes as many Nashville families struggle to make ends meet.
“They’re working jobs that are $10, $12 an hour jobs and they cannot afford basic living expenses,” Tony Turntine said.
Turntine and his family are success stories of UpRise Nashville’s free career training program. Through that experience, he has seen firsthand how getting to a better life requires studying, working, mentorship — and help with housing.
“The affordable housing that gives them an opportunity to come out of some of the really lower income neighborhoods they’ve been in and have better, quieter, more wholesome places to live,” Turntine said.
“If people can afford a better opportunity, we see everyone blossom from it. It’s a great day,” Al Brady with UpRise said.
Turntine says the tough choices Nashville families face are real.
“Whether I’m gonna pay the car out or whether I’m gonna get food for the kids,” Turntine said.
Now living and thriving in a new opportunity, Turntine has made it his mission to help others get there too.
“We’re living in a better neighborhood now — we actually just moved last weekend to a house twice the house of what we were in before,” Turntine said. “When you make different choices in life, that gives you different opportunities.”
Do you have more information about this story? You can email me at Amanda.Roberts@NewsChannel5.com
This story was reported on-air by Amanda Roberts and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.
101st Airborne veterans get Purple Hearts years after an insider attack
As we honor those who have served our country and made the ultimate sacrifice, it is also heartening to see the military right a wrong. Chris Davis brings us the moving story of a Purple Heart ceremony two decades in the making. It’s worth a watch.
A heartfelt thanks to all who bravely serve.
– Carrie Sharp
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WZTV) — A new Tennessee law aimed at protecting utility customers from the growing energy demands of data centers will take effect in July.
The legislation comes as more than 60 data centers power artificial intelligence and other cyber operations across the state, with about one-third located in the greater Nashville area. As the race to build and power AI infrastructure accelerates nationwide and globally, Tennessee lawmakers say they’re working to ensure ratepayers are not saddled with the added costs of serving these massive facilities.
“We want to have data centers. But we want to put guardrails around that to protect our ratepayers,” said state Rep. Ed Butler, R-Rickman, during a legislative committee hearing in March.
Under the new law, data centers must pay for any new infrastructure required to support their operations, including substations and other power-related upgrades. Utilities are prohibited from passing those costs on to residential and business customers.
“In the rural areas they’re putting a lot of these. And we have had a lot of increased utility bills,” said state Rep. Dennis Powers, R-Jacksboro, during the same March committee hearing on the legislation.
Powers questioned if data centers could be contributing to ratepayer costs. That question wasn’t clearly answered. Regardless, legislators voted the measure through, and Gov. Bill Lee signed it into law to help prevent that from happening.
“If there was a substation that was needed to be put in to provide power for this data center, then the data center would pay for the substation,” Butler said during the hearing.
As communities across Tennessee consider proposals for new data centers, and new laws to regulate (or contain) them, some local leaders remain opposed to bringing the facilities to their areas.
“I don’t think they fit in Robertson County, and definitely not in my community,” said Cedar Hill Mayor John Edwards, who is proposing a two-year moratorium on data centers in his city.
Electric providers and utilities are also preparing for future demand. The Tennessee Valley Authority reports data centers currently account for about 18% of its industrial power load, a figure that’s predicted to potentially double by 2030.
The new law also allows utilities, including TVA, to establish a separate customer or rate class specifically for data centers, providing an additional safeguard against shifting costs to other customers.
As energy demand continues to surge, state lawmakers say the goal is to ensure Tennessee stays competitive, while families and businesses do not see higher electric bills because of data center expansion.
Data center advocates, meanwhile, say many facilities generate much of their own power on-site and use advanced cooling systems that require little or no water.
If TVA moves forward with creating a separate customer or rate class for data centers, FOX17 will continue to follow those developments.
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