ON APRIL 4, 2024, THE SENATE ADOPTED AMENDMENT #1 AND PASSED SENATE BILL 757, AS AMENDED.
AMENDMENT #1 rewrites the bill to, instead, add to the existing law relevant to arrests, as described below.
When a person is arrested, booked, or confined for any period in the jail of a county or municipality, this amendment requires the arresting law enforcement agency and the keeper of a jail to collaborate to verify the citizenship status of the person and report the status of persons who are not lawfully present within the United States or whose status cannot be determined to the district attorneys general conference.
As used in this amendment, a person is "not lawfully present within the United States" if:
(1) The person cannot provide: (i) a social security card or number that can be verified with the social security administration in accordance with federal law; (ii) a valid Tennessee driver license or photo identification license issued by the department of safety; (iii) a permanent resident card, also known as a green card, issued by the U.S. citizenship and immigration services; (iv) an F-1 or M-1 student visa, issued by the U.S. department of state; (v) A J-1 visa, issued by the U.S. department of state; (vi) an official birth certificate issued by a state, jurisdiction, or territory of the U.S. or a U.S. government-issued certified birth certificate; (vii) a valid, unexpired U.S. passport; (viii) a certificate of citizenship; or (ix) a certificate of naturalization; or
(2) The individual has been granted parole under federal law, temporary protected status, deferred action, deferred enforced departure, or similar exercise of administrative grace or prosecutorial discretion.
However, if an individual cannot produce the documentation listed in (1) above, then this amendment authorizes a law enforcement officer or jailer to presume the individual is lawfully present in the U.S. based on the officer's personal knowledge of the individual.
This amendment provides that the requirements of this amendment are in addition to the requirements in the existing law regarding development of standardized written procedure of verifying citizenship status.
ON APRIL 24, 2024, THE HOUSE SUBSTITUTED SENATE BILL 757 FOR HOUSE BILL 1128, ADOPTED AMENDMENT #1, AND PASSED SENATE BILL 757, AS AMENDED.
AMENDMENT #1 makes the following changes:
(1) Requires the sheriff, instead of the arresting law enforcement agency and the keeper of a jail, to report the status of persons who are not lawfully present within the United States or whose status cannot be determined to the district attorneys general conference; and
(2) Adds to the bill by providing that a person is also "not lawfully present within the United States" if the person cannot provide (i) a B-2 visa, issued by the U.S. department of state; or (ii) a valid, unexpired e-passport issued by a foreign country and an Electronic System for Travel Authorization approval issued by the U.S. department of state through the Visa Waiver Program.

Statutes affected:
Introduced: 55-10-302(b), 55-10-302