The Knox County Board of Education voted 6-3 on Dec. 4 to oppose legislation that would allow Tennessee school districts to deny enrollment to undocumented immigrant students, adding to resistance against a measure expected to return when lawmakers reconvene in January 2026.
Two Republican board members joined the Democratic minority in the vote. Knox County state Sens. Becky Duncan Massey and Richard Briggs, both Republicans, also voted against the bill when it passed the Senate 19-13 in April 2025.
The legislation allows local education agencies and public charter schools to require proof of U.S. citizenship, pending citizenship application, or legal immigration status before enrollment. Students who cannot provide documentation would face tuition charges ranging from the state’s base per-pupil funding amount to the total average per-pupil expenditure.
Schools could refuse enrollment if tuition is not paid, though families would have 21 days to appeal to the Tennessee Department of Education. The measure challenges the 1982 U.S. Supreme Court decision Plyler v. Doe, which mandates free public education for all children regardless of immigration status.
The legislation affects an estimated 10,000 to 15,000 undocumented students statewide and could jeopardize federal funding under Title I and other education programs.
House Bill 793 is sponsored by Rep. William Lamberth of Portland, with 15 Republican co-sponsors Reps. Justin Lafferty, Jason Zachary, Johnny Garrett, Kip Capley, Ed Butler, Chris Todd, Greg Martin, Tim Rudd, Lee Reeves, Clay Doggett, Monty Fritts, Dennis Powers, Scott Cepicky, David Hawk and Gino Bulso.
Senate Bill 836 is sponsored by Sen. Bo Watson of Hixson, with six Republican co-sponsors including Ken Yager, Jack Johnson, John Stevens, Dawn White, Joseph Hensley and Rusty Crowe.
House Democratic opposition includes Reps. Yusuf Hakeem, John Ray Clemmons, Torry Thayne Hicks, Justin McKenzie, Joe Towns, Gary White, Antonio Parkinson and G.A. Hardaway. Rep. Ronnie Glynn of Clarksville also voted against the measure.
Senate opposition included Democrats Raumesh Akbari, Heidi Campbell, Jeff Yarbro, London Lamar, Jillian Kyle and Sara Kyle. Republicans who voted against the bill included Massey, Briggs, Richard Haile, Frank Pody, Paul Bailey and Paul Walley.
“I just could not vote for a bill that potentially penalized children that really didn’t do anything wrong,” Massey said. She added that students cannot control where they live. “I don’t believe those kids broke the law,” Massey said.
Briggs said denying education could create long-term problems. “They may get citizenship and then you would have this large, totally uneducated underclass,” he said. “You’ve got these people who can’t even read and write. That’s just not right at all.”
Massey noted some issues require legislators to “say ‘OK morally, legally … and just work through the issue.’ This is one of them.”
The bill cleared multiple House committees before stalling in the House Finance, Ways, and Means Subcommittee in April 2025. Tennessee’s biennial legislature allows unfinished bills to carry over to the second year of a session.
The House can take up the Senate-passed version without requiring another Senate vote unless amendments are made. The bill’s sponsors could not specify enforcement costs during Senate debate, according to Briggs.
