Lawsuit says immigration issue is federal, not state

A 58-year-old Memphis woman identified as "Lucy" in court documents said she came to the U.S. in 2000 on a visitor's visa and applied for asylum. She remained in the country after her asylum application was denied and a removal order was issued, according to the lawsuit. "Lucy" is afraid she will be arrested on the drive from Memphis to Knox County to visit her college-age son.

A second plaintiff, a 35-year-old man named Benjamin, said he is also afraid he will be jailed because he has a deportation order, according to the lawsuit. He has also unsuccessfully applied for asylum and was accepted into the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, known as DACA. The program was rescinded during President Donald Trump's first term and reinstated by former President Joe Biden, and continues to be scrutinized. 

“HB1704 would threaten our neighbors who have families here and have lived here for years,” said Zee Scout, staff attorney at the ACLU of Tennessee. “This is yet another example of the state of Tennessee improperly wielding its power to baselessly attack neighbors and families who make this a better, richer state for all."

The plaintiffs want a judge to create a class action lawsuit and stop the law's implementation on July 1. 

The law also creates a crime for persons who try to enter the state if they have a deportation order in place, but that part could only take effect if the U.S. Supreme Court overturns Arizona vs. the U.S. The 2012 case held that the state lacked the authority to enforce immigration laws. The lawsuit does not include that section of the bill. 

Deportations violate the Supremacy Clause of the U.S. Constitution, which gives federal statutes precedence over state ones, according to the plaintiffs.

The lawsuit says, "Removal from the country is a quintessentially federal authority. Courts have long and repeatedly recognized the dominant federal interest in removal, which flows directly from the sovereign powers of the federal government – powers that the states do not have."

Texas, Iowa and Oklahoma lawmakers passed similar laws that were challenged by the Department of Justice under the Biden administration. The Trump administration dismissed the challenges, but other lawsuits were filed.

Tennessee Senate Majority Leader Jack Johnson, R-Franklin, said during debate on the bill that he believes the first section of the bill would "withstand judicial scrutiny."