Red states pressure social workers to enforce immigration laws

A growing number of conservative states require state and local social service providers to check and report the immigration status of the people they serve, in some cases threatening severe penalties for public employees who fail to comply.

Under federal law, immigrants in the United States illegally are generally prohibited from receiving public benefits such as non-emergency health care, food assistance, and housing assistance, although several left-leaning states apply their own money to provide such benefits.

Supporters of the up-to-date vetting and reporting laws say they will facilitate curb illegal immigration by making it more arduous for people who do not qualify for public assistance to receive it.

Government-funded health care, housing assistance and the right to have a driver’s license are “a pull factor encouraging illegal immigration,” said Cooper Smith, director of homeland security and immigration at the America First Policy Institute, a conservative think tank that has worked to develop policy with the current Trump administration.

The government benefits, Smith said, are “an incentive for (immigrants) to come here, cross the border and make this their home, and we don’t want to see that.”

In Tennessee, lawmakers sent this week Bill to Republican Gov. Bill Lee, which would require all state and local agencies to check the immigration status of people applying for federal, state or local government benefits and to report people who are here illegally to the Legislature and a up-to-date state immigration enforcement agency.

The order, which the governor is expected to sign, authorizes the state’s attorney general to investigate possible violations and threatens jail or loss of state funds for employees or agencies that fail to comply.

The potential penalties under Tennessee law are particularly severe this year Indiana, UtahAND Wyoming also enacted legislation requiring state and local agencies to verify the immigration status of people applying for certain benefits. In Indiana and Wyoming, agencies must also report immigrants who are here illegally to federal authorities. Louisiana last year it passed a similar law on verification and reporting.

Indiana and Wyoming laws go beyond specific people applying for assistance.

When processing an application for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), Indiana law requires agencies to notify federal authorities if they are unable to verify immigration status everyone member of the applicant’s household. Similarly, Wyoming law requires the state Department of Health and the state Department of Family Services to notify federal immigration authorities if they determine that an applicant for public benefits lives in a household that includes someone who is here illegally.

Critics say the up-to-date state law will dissuade many people eligible for benefits – especially those whose families are here illegally – from getting the facilitate they are entitled to and force state and local officials to take on an immigration enforcement role they are unprepared for.

“They have to have a vetting process for everyone who comes through their doors. This is something that slows down services for every Tennessean in the name of collecting data and trying to make judgments that people are not trained to make,” Democratic state Sen. Jeff Yarbro said last month during debate on the bill.

“There is probably no one who understands the rules enough to make that decision,” he said. “But we’re forcing this decision on every government office in the state of Tennessee – it’s just kind of crazy.”

Tanya Broder, a lawyer at the National Immigration Law Center, which advocates for immigrants, said the up-to-date rules represent an escalation of the state’s anti-immigration efforts. She said the measures show that conservative states are following the lead of the Trump administration.

“There are many, many states that impose restrictions on public access to state and local public benefits, but some of the reporting requirements states are currently proposing likely violate the law,” Broder said. “I think they are spreading a campaign of fear and misinformation.”

Broder added that fear of retribution could lead Tennessee agency workers to overreport and potentially engage in racial profiling.

The Tennessee Act is part a sweeping package of immigration enforcement measures that the state legislature approved this year. Tennessee’s overall immigration program was developed in coordination with the White House, and specifically with Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller, the architect of the Trump administration’s crackdown on illegal immigration.

Earlier this month, Lee signed the contract measure this requires state judges to cooperate with federal immigration authorities. And last month, the governor signed AND Bill this makes it a crime under Tennessee law for an adult to refuse or fail to leave the state within 90 days of a final order of removal. The law also makes it a crime for immigrants to try to enter the state if they have an outstanding deportation order.

Other bills that would require local sheriffs to cooperate with federal immigration agents and make it illegal for people who are in the U.S. illegally work a commercial vehicle or truck in this condition sits on Lee’s desk, waiting for his signature.

Smith, of the America First Policy Institute, said Tennessee “serves as a role model for other states.”

Smith noted that Republicans have had difficulty securing funding for the Department of Homeland Security this year, “so they know that their ability to get meaningful legal immigration reform through both houses of Congress and signed by the president is very, very unlikely,” he said. “So the next step will be to do as much as we can at the state level.”

Julia Gelatt, deputy director at the Migration Policy Institute, a Washington-based think tank, agreed with Smith’s assessment of the political situation.

“There are things that the federal government cannot control or that may be more difficult to achieve at the federal level, especially with a Congress that doesn’t pass laws,” Gelatt said.

“We know that Stephen Miller has advised Tennessee on immigration laws, and I think his philosophy is that the federal government and state governments should make it so difficult for people without legal status to live in the United States that they choose to come home.”

Stateline reporter Shalina Chatlani can be reached at: schatlani@stateline.org.