Protesters’ voices echoed through the House chamber as Gov. Bill Lee delivered his last State of the State address at the Tennessee State Capitol in Nashville on Feb. 2.
Lee’s speech touched on state subjects from the recent ice storm to school vouchers and plans for the governor’s last year in office. Gov. Lee did not mention Murfreesboro, Tennessee, in his speech but mentioned some changes that may be visible this year include additional state troopers, if the legislature approves the governor’s budget.
Protesters who gathered just outside the House chamber seemed most concerned about the use of Immigration and Customs Enforcement in Tennessee, a topic omitted from the address, despite the state’s extensive expansion of the federal agency.
“We’re not satisfied with the state,” Polly Gregory, a protester at the Capitol, said. “The State of the State address that he’s going to give tonight is probably not what a lot of us Tennesseans are feeling. It’s tone deaf.”
Tennessee Republicans announced a comprehensive plan in January to end illegal immigration, a move that House Speaker Cameron Sexton (R-Crossville) said will promote a safer environment for Tennesseans.
Tennessee Republicans introduced a slate of bills this year concerning immigration, ranging from prohibiting state funds from being allocated to support Immigration and Customs Enforcement to issuing restricted licenses to non-English speakers.
“Laws will be enforced locally and statewide, will preserve legal immigration, protect taxpayers and end sanctuary cities loopholes,” Sexton said in a Facebook post.
287(g) is one form of legislation that promotes local law enforcement cooperation with ICE. Rutherford County signed this agreement on Aug. 28, even with several protesters outside the county courthouse.
Rutherford County Sheriff Mike Fitzhugh said police won’t make arrests based on immigration status and insisted they never would, according to a statement to NewsChannel 5.
Still, friction against 287(g) persisted, leading state capitol protesters and even some MTSU alumni to hold paper signs opposing the agreement.
Following the governor’s address, Tennessee’s Democratic representatives hosted a press conference to vocalize their dissent with Gov. Lee’s plan for this year.
But some protesters, like MTSU alum Jaxon Gardner, are uninterested in partisan politics and find the state Democrats’ words hollow.
“It’s not a party issue,” Gardner said. “[Democrats] don’t listen. They go belly up when things get hard; they have no backbone.”
Disagreements among Democratic party members emerged when they were questioned about ICE during the press conference.
“I appreciate not jumping into that discussion,” state Sen. Raumesh Akbari (D-Memphis) said. “I hope that you can focus on issues that affect and impact Tennesseans, and not try to play to a national agenda that, quite frankly, is harmful.”
State Rep. Justin Pearson (D-Memphis) responded differently to the topic, demanding action from fellow Democratic representatives.
“We never asked for the occupation of our city,” Pearson said. “We cannot allow for the proliferation of what ICE is doing, what [Department of Homeland Security] is supporting, to continue in our cities … We have a responsibility to stand up against it as state leaders but also at the local level, as many people in our community are asking for us to do.”
Jacob White, another MTSU alum and Tennessee native, echoed Pearson’s sentiment and said that ICE significantly impacts many Tennesseans, which motivated him to protest at the Capitol.
“I love it here,” White said. “This is my home, that’s why I want to use my voice, I want to make it better.”
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