House Bill 1704 amends various sections of the Tennessee Code Annotated to establish new offenses related to immigration. The bill introduces a new section in Title 39, Chapter 17, Part 1, making it a Class A misdemeanor for an alien with a valid final order of removal to intentionally fail to depart the state within 90 days. Additionally, it creates another offense for aliens who have been denied admission, excluded, deported, or removed from the U.S. and subsequently attempt to enter Tennessee without prior consent from the U.S. Attorney General. Both offenses allow for a stay of criminal proceedings if the individual has not exhausted all available federal legal challenges to their removal.

The bill specifies that the provisions regarding the second offense will take effect 30 days after either a U.S. Supreme Court decision that overrules Arizona v. United States, which would allow states to determine unlawful presence, or the adoption of a federal law that removes state preemption in this area. All other sections of the bill are set to take effect on July 1, 2026.