TBA Law Blog


Posted by: Stacey Shrader Joslin on Jun 7, 2021

Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee on Friday again expressed frustration about the movement of migrant children through Tennessee, but may have his hands tied, the Times Free Press reports. Four commissioners in Lee's executive branch have said the state does not have the authority to conduct an investigation of the Chattanooga shelter housing migrant children. In a letter to the House Government Operations Committee, the commissioners said there are no reports of child abuse at the facility and that while the state is impacted by federal immigration policies, "states have very little control over the movement of illegal immigrants who are subject to immigration proceedings in federal courts."