A Republican-backed bill allowing Tennessee citizens victimized by illegal aliens to sue non-governmental organizations that provided housing to that illegal alien has been sent to Governor Bill Lee’s desk.
The bill was passed by the Tennessee House 70-23 on Wednesday, advancing the bill to the governor’s desk. The legislation would give citizens harmed by an illegal alien a private right of action to sue entities enabling illegal immigration.
“This is a public safety bill in keeping with the Trump administration’s renewed focus on illegal immigration,” Republican Rep. Rusty Grills, who sponsored the legislation, said on the House floor. “What we’re doing with this bill is anyone who is a victim of crime committed by an illegal alien will have a private right of action against any NGO that has assisted an illegal alien with housing in a community.”
Grills noted that housing as defined in the bill would not include homeless shelters or storm shelters, as some Democrat opponents have claimed. It would include long-term housing situations or rental homes.
In the Senate, the bill was sponsored by Republican Sen. Brent Taylor and passed 24-4 earlier this month.
The text of the legislation says that NGOs “may be held liable for a loss, damages, injury, or death resulting from a criminal offense committed by the person who is unlawfully present in the United States while the person is receiving housing services from the charitable organization if the charitable organization’s conduct in providing housing constitutes negligence, gross negligence, or willful and wanton misconduct.”
Many NGOs have faced scrutiny over their role in facilitating mass migration into the United States and some have been accused of enabling human trafficking.
Tennesseans have not been exempt from the flood of illegal immigrants that occurred under former President Joe Biden. For example, nearly 3,000 illegal aliens were arrested in Tennessee for crimes ranging from murder to rape during the last three months of 2024.
In one prominent case, local Nashville business owner Matt Carney was killed by an illegal immigrant from Mexico during an attempted robbery at his beloved restaurant.
On Tuesday, the House also sent another illegal immigration bill to Lee’s desk in a 75-20 vote. The bill would require law enforcement, with the exception of the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation, to “report monthly to the department of safety each interaction that the law enforcement agency had with illegal aliens over the previous month.”
Reports need to include “the date of the interaction, the number of illegal aliens encountered, and a description of identification documents, if any, in their possession.”
Another bill, which would allow schools in Tennessee to charge illegal aliens tuition, has passed the Senate, but was placed behind the budget by the House as the session is coming to a close. The bill still could be revived, but it has currently stalled out. Backers of the bill hope to challenge Plyler v. Doe, a Supreme Court decision that forced states to provide education to illegal aliens.
