US state threatens removal and at least one year in prison for lawmakers who support ‘sanctuary city’ ordinances

Tennessee is known for taking a stricter line on immigration enforcement than many other US states. Now it has taken a step that has Democrats raising the alarm: threatening a minimum of one year in prison for lawmakers who vote the so-called wrong way on immigration policy.

In January, the state general assembly passed legislation, by about a three-to-one majority, to make it a felony for a local lawmaker, such as a school board member or a city councilperson, to vote affirmatively on a local ordinance that adopts any “sanctuary city” policy of noncompliance with federal immigration law enforcement officials.