Tennessee’s new immigration laws, enacted in 2026 and built on a 2025 foundation, make it a state crime for some undocumented people to remain in or drive through Tennessee, require every county sheriff to partner with ICE, force public agencies to report people who can’t prove legal status, impose English requirements on drivers, and tax international money transfers. Most provisions took effect on July 1, 2026. Several are already being challenged in court, and one — the reporting of sick immigrant children — has been temporarily blocked.
Key Effective Dates
Most of the 2026 package took effect July 1, 2026. The mandatory 287(g) deadline for sheriffs is January 1, 2027. The international money transfer tax also starts January 1, 2027. The 2025 anti-harboring law has been in effect since July 1, 2025.
What Is Now a State Crime
HB 1704 makes it a Class A misdemeanor for an adult to remain in Tennessee more than 90 days after receiving a final deportation order from an immigration judge. The penalty is up to one year in jail.1Nashville Banner. Tennessee Lawmakers 2026 Session: Education Vouchers, Immigration Bills
A companion provision, HB 1706, makes it a Class A misdemeanor to drive anywhere in Tennessee while unlawfully present in the country. Officers who make an arrest under the statute must report the driver to federal immigration authorities.1Nashville Banner. Tennessee Lawmakers 2026 Session: Education Vouchers, Immigration Bills
The legislation also contains a trigger clause that would expand state enforcement authority if the U.S. Supreme Court overturns prior rulings prohibiting states from independently criminalizing immigration violations.2WPLN. Tennessee Brings Trump’s Immigration Policy to the States: Here’s What’s New
HB 1704 is already being challenged. On June 4, 2026, the ACLU and the National Immigration Law Center filed a federal class-action suit, Lucy v. Skrmetti (No. 3:26-cv-00763), in Nashville, arguing the state is trying to replace Congress’s immigration scheme with its own. The named plaintiffs are a 35-year-old DACA recipient in Memphis and a 58-year-old woman with a pending Violence Against Women Act claim, both with old deportation orders.3ACLU. Groups File Federal Lawsuit Over Tennessee’s New Extreme Anti-Immigrant Law As the law took effect, no injunction had been issued.
What Sheriffs Must Do
HB 2219 requires every county sheriff in Tennessee to sign a formal 287(g) agreement with ICE by January 1, 2027. Sheriffs choose one of three models:
- Jail enforcement, which identifies removable people already in local custody.
- A warrant service program, which executes ICE warrants on people in local custody.
- A task force model, which allows limited immigration enforcement during routine duties such as DUI checkpoints.4WSMV. Tennessee Legislature Passes Bill Requiring County Sheriffs Enter Agreement Under 287(g) Immigration Program
Agencies that participate draw from a $5 million state grant fund. Those that refuse risk losing state funding. As of mid-2026, 47 of Tennessee’s 95 counties already had active 287(g) agreements.5Tennessee Department of Safety. Centralized Immigration Enforcement Division
Practically, if you live in a Tennessee county whose sheriff signs the task force model, routine traffic stops and checkpoints can now involve immigration screening by local deputies acting under federal authority.
Public Agencies, Clinics, and Reporting
HB 1710 requires state and local government agencies, including public health clinics, to verify the immigration status of adults seeking public benefits. If an employee encounters a person who cannot prove legal status, the employee must report that individual to Tennessee’s Centralized Immigration Enforcement Agency. Failure to comply is a Class A misdemeanor for the employee.1Nashville Banner. Tennessee Lawmakers 2026 Session: Education Vouchers, Immigration Bills
During debate, Rep. Jason Powell warned the requirement could push people away from medical care and risk the spread of untreated disease. Rep. Gloria Johnson noted TennCare had reported no instances of undocumented people receiving benefits.6Nashville Banner. Tennessee Republicans Anti-Immigrant Legislation
Sick Children: Reporting Temporarily Blocked
On June 24, 2026, Davidson County Chancellor Patricia Head Moskal issued a temporary restraining order preventing the Tennessee Department of Health from reporting the names and immigration status of roughly 400 disabled and critically ill children to the state’s immigration enforcement division. Three physicians, represented by the Tennessee Justice Center, argued the reporting plan (set to begin after June 30 as a condition of enrollment in the Children’s Special Services program) misreads the law, which they said targets adult benefit applicants, and would push parents of children with epilepsy, cancer, and cerebral palsy to pull them from life-sustaining care rather than risk deportation. A hearing was set for July 2, 2026.7Tennessee Lookout. Doctors File Suit Against Tennessee Plan to Report Sick, Disabled Immigrant Kids to Authorities
Driver’s Licenses and English Requirements
HB 1708 requires anyone seeking a permanent Tennessee driver’s license to pass the written exam in English. You can still test initially in one of five other languages Tennessee currently offers, but doing so gets you only a nonrenewable temporary license valid for 18 months. To keep driving after that, you must pass the English-language exam.8New York Times. Tennessee Immigration Bills: What to Know
HB 1817 covers commercial drivers. Law enforcement may issue “out-of-service” orders to any commercial truck driver who cannot speak English well enough “to converse with the general public.”1Nashville Banner. Tennessee Lawmakers 2026 Session: Education Vouchers, Immigration Bills
Tennessee also ties license validity to federal work authorization. DACA recipients whose renewals are delayed federally lose their work permits and, with them, their Tennessee licenses. Reports from Robertson and Williamson counties indicate DACA recipients stopped for driving on an expired license have been detained by ICE.9Nashville Banner. Immigration DACA Renewal Delays Dreamers Tennessee
Tax on International Money Transfers
HB 2502, signed by Governor Lee on May 21, 2026, imposes a $10 flat fee plus a 2% tax on any amount above $500 for international money transfers originating in Tennessee. It applies only to outgoing international transfers handled by companies licensed under state money-transmission law, and it takes effect January 1, 2027.10Financial Technology Association. FTA Files Lawsuit Challenging Constitutionality of Tennessee Cross-Border Payments Tax
The Financial Technology Association, whose members include PayPal, Amazon, and Stripe, sued in Davidson County Chancery Court on June 10, 2026. The group argues the tax discriminates against foreign commerce (identical domestic transfers are exempt) in violation of the Dormant Commerce Clause and imposes an unauthorized duty on exports in violation of the Import-Export Clause. The suit seeks a permanent injunction.10Financial Technology Association. FTA Files Lawsuit Challenging Constitutionality of Tennessee Cross-Border Payments Tax
The 2025 Anti-Harboring Law
Separately from the 2026 package, Senate Bill 392 took effect July 1, 2025. It creates criminal penalties for “harboring” undocumented immigrants, defined broadly enough to include providing shelter for financial benefit. A conviction is a Class E felony carrying one to six years in prison. The breadth of the definition has alarmed churches, landlords, and families in mixed-status households.11American Immigration Council. Lawsuit Challenges Tennessee Anti-Harboring Law
A coalition led by the Southeastern Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, joined by a landlord and a Tennessee resident whose son-in-law is an asylum seeker, sued in the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Tennessee (No. 3:25-cv-00684). The plaintiffs argue the law is preempted by federal immigration authority, is unconstitutionally vague, and violates First Amendment religious exercise. Chief Judge William L. Campbell Jr. denied an emergency injunction before the law took effect, faulting the plaintiffs’ delay in filing. Oral argument on the preliminary injunction was heard in September 2025. No ruling had issued as of mid-2026, and the law remains in force while the case is pending.12Georgetown Law ICAP. Southeastern Synod v. Finney
The Centralized Immigration Enforcement Division
Public Chapter No. 1, signed February 25, 2025, created a Centralized Immigration Enforcement Division within the Department of Safety, led by Chief Immigration Enforcement Officer Ryan Hubbard. The same law reserved standard driver’s licenses for U.S. citizens and established the $5 million grant program used to fund local 287(g) partnerships.13Tennessee General Assembly. HB 6001 Bill Information
One provision of the law — a Class E felony for local officials who voted for or implemented sanctuary policies — has been struck down. Seven Nashville Metro Council members sued in June 2025 in Capp v. Funk (No. 25-0880-IV). A judge approved a settlement on February 26, 2026, declaring the felony provision unconstitutional on legislative-immunity grounds. The Attorney General acknowledged he could “advance no argument in support of the constitutionality” of the provision, and the state agreed to pay roughly $61,000 in attorneys’ fees.14Nashville Banner. Tennessee Nashville Metro Council Sanctuary Law Unconstitutional The Division and grant program are set to sunset on January 20, 2029, unless the legislature reauthorizes them.13Tennessee General Assembly. HB 6001 Bill Information
What Didn’t Pass
One widely watched proposal, HB 793, would have let school districts bar undocumented students or charge them tuition, directly challenging the 1982 Supreme Court decision in Plyler v. Doe. Lawmakers pulled back out of concern over losing more than $1 billion in federal education funding. The House narrowed the bill into a tracking-only measure; the Senate rejected that version, and it died without reconciliation. A separate bill, HB 1711, that would have required law enforcement and schools to report immigration data stalled in committee.1Nashville Banner. Tennessee Lawmakers 2026 Session: Education Vouchers, Immigration Bills Tennessee public schools are not currently required to verify or report students’ immigration status under the 2026 package.
Where the Court Fights Stand
Four active challenges will shape how the laws operate:
- Lucy v. Skrmetti targets HB 1704’s criminalization of post-removal-order presence. Filed June 4, 2026; no injunction issued as of the law’s July 1 effective date.15Civil Rights Litigation Clearinghouse. Lucy v. Skrmetti
- Southeastern Synod v. Finney targets the 2025 anti-harboring law. Pending for a year with no ruling on the preliminary injunction; law in force.16American Immigration Council. Challenging Tennessee’s Unconstitutional Anti-Immigrant Law
- Snader v. TDH secured a temporary restraining order blocking reporting of roughly 400 disabled and critically ill children; next hearing July 2, 2026.17NewsChannel 9. Tennessee Judge Blocks Law Requiring Doctors to Report Suspected Undocumented Patients
- The Financial Technology Association suit challenges the January 2027 money transfer tax, seeking a permanent injunction before the tax goes live.10Financial Technology Association. FTA Files Lawsuit Challenging Constitutionality of Tennessee Cross-Border Payments Tax
Until a court orders otherwise, every provision described above (other than the sanctuary-vote felony, now void, and the hospital reporting of the covered children, temporarily paused) is enforceable Tennessee law.