The week in politics: Justin Jones visits the border, goes into Mexico and draws GOP ire
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Rep. Justin Jones, D-Nashville, visited the U.S. border with Mexico on a humanitarian trip during which he met asylum seekers, aid workers, helped distribute relief, and met with U.S. Border Patrol officers to get a better understanding of the situation.
“I cannot unsee what I saw,” Jones said. “I cannot unsee the trauma that I saw, the pain that I saw, but also the beauty of the community coming together to try and act where government has failed.”
While there, the group also briefly visited Reynosa, Mexico and shared a meal with asylum seekers waiting to cross the border into the United States.
“What I saw was a lot of folks who are desperate who are trying to get here legally, but the processes have been set up, and the bureaucracy has been set up to where it's a seven year waiting period for some people to even get an asylum appointment,” Jones told The Tennessean.
The trip was organized by humanitarian groups Fellowship Southwest, Team Brownsville, and Practice Mercy. Jones paid for his travel and expenses with his personal funds. He is planning to return in April with clergy from Nashville, and invited colleagues from either side of the aisle to join him.
“I really went to just see for myself and lift up the humanity of folks, and make this people-centered and not to be just about rhetoric and fear mongering, but to make it about the people I met – like Javier,” Jones said.
During debate on a bill on the House floor Thursday that would require local law enforcement to inform federal immigration authorities of individuals’ immigration status, Jones shared his experiences at the border, including interactions he had with an asylum seeker named Javier, with whom, he said, he walked across the border.
In response, Rep. Jody Barrett, R-Dickson, insinuated in a social media post that Jones violated federal law – and tagged a federal law enforcement agency to chime in.
“Did a member of the Tennessee General Assembly just admit on the House floor to aiding and abetting an illegal immigrant in violating federal law?” Barrett asked in a social media post Thursday, tagging U.S. House Homeland Security Committee Chair U.S. Rep. Mark Green, R-Clarksville, the Department of Homeland Security, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, and U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas.
The House Republican Caucus reshared Barrett’s post, as did several members of GOP leadership. A spokesperson for the House Republican Caucus later noted to The Tennessean that Barrett’s tweet posed a question, but did not make a statement.
"The House Republican Caucus does not have an official position on this issue," House Majority Leader William Lamberth, R-Portland, told The Tennessean in a statement. "However, our members have overwhelmingly voted in favor of strengthening laws that ensure Tennessee is not a sanctuary state for illegal immigrants. The failed policies of the Biden administration have undermined the safety of all Americans. We will continue to aid and support law enforcement at every level to communicate and cooperate with ICE.”
Barrett did not respond to requests for clarification from The Tennessean.
Jones told The Tennessean that no curious Republican members have approached him about the nature of his trip, or about his experiences speaking with asylum seekers, but would be happy to discuss the trip with them – and welcome them to return with him in April.
Jones shared photo and video documentation with The Tennessean demonstrating that the group returned back from the visit to Reynosa by way of the Reynosa-McAllen/Hidalgo International Bridge port of entry, and passed through the U.S. Customs and Border Protection checkpoint. Jones said the group waited in line alongside other asylum seekers at the checkpoint, and helped welcome them to the United States.
He said he hopes to see more investment in the legal processes to shorten the waiting period for people who want to come to the U.S. legally.
"They want to come legally, and they have a human right to asylum," Jones said.
He encouraged his Republican colleagues to refrain from using terms like "illegal invasion" when describing the situation at the border.
“My fear is that dehumanizing language leads to dehumanizing policies, and so I wish that [my Republican colleagues] would just center on the humanity of folks and hear their stories and see them,” Jones said. “At least personally, our faith compels us to welcome those who are considered the stranger, and to not try and demonize them or incite violence against them or put razor wire to keep them out.”
School-based gun safety concepts training headed to final floor vote
A measure to require age-appropriate training on gun-safety concepts for school children as early as kindergarten is headed to the Senate floor for a final vote after passing the Senate Education Committee on Wednesday. With full Senate approval, the bill could be headed to Gov. Bill Lee's desk soon.
Senate Bill 2882 would require public schools to provide students with mandatory “age-appropriate and grade-appropriate” training, beginning in the 2025-2026 school year. Required training would include instruction on the safe storage of firearms; safety relating to firearms; how to avoid injury if a student finds a firearm; never to touch a found firearm; and to immediately notify an adult of the location of a found firearm.
The bill requires that instruction be “viewpoint neutral on political topics, such as gun rights, gun violence, and the Second Amendment.” Live ammunition, live fire, and live firearms would be prohibited. Democrats have criticized the proposal for not permitting parents to opt their children out of the instruction. Proponents of the bill have likened the safety concepts to fire drills.
No-cost menstrual hygiene supplies could be coming to schools
A bipartisan effort to make menstrual hygiene supplies more accessible for school-aged girls took a step forward, gaining unanimous approval from the House Education Administration Committee on Wednesday.
The Menstrual Hygiene Products Accessibility Act would designate a portion of sales taxes collected from sales of feminine hygiene products – which the state taxes as a nonessential luxury item – to fund placing a stock of products in girls’ restrooms and in clinics inside schools.
House Bill 2207 is sponsored by Rep. Elaine Davis, R-Knoxville, and Sen. Raumesh Akbari, D-Memphis. If passed, no-cost feminine hygiene care products could be placed in high school girls’ restrooms as early as next year, as the bill would take effect July 1.
“It highlights the necessity of this. There have been young ladies who have been absent because they don’t have access to the necessary products,” Davis told the committee.
The Senate Education Committee is scheduled to take up the bill Wednesday.
Bill to vacate TSU board headed to full Senate vote
The Senate Education Committee voted to effectively vacate the current board of Tennessee State University and leave it to Gov. Bill Lee to appoint 8 out of 10 new members. The move comes as TSU nears the end of its search for a new president and awaits the results of a forensic audit commissioned by lawmakers last spring. The bill heads to a full Senate vote next, which has not yet been scheduled, with the House version set to be heard by the joint Government Operations Committee on Monday.
The bill has stirred intense controversy over $2.1 billion in historic underfunding of TSU by the state and disparities in how TSU has been treated by lawmakers. TSU leaders have pleaded with lawmakers to extend their current board and give them more time to course correct after scrutiny over finances and leadership in recent years.
The legislation stalled for a few weeks as some Democrats attempted to craft a compromise.
House committee kills school meal efforts
Two nearly identical efforts to establish universal free public school meals, brought from both sides of the aisle, died in the House K-12 Subcommittee.
House Democratic Caucus Chair John Ray Clemmons, D-Nashville, and Rep. Kevin Raper, R-Cleveland, each brought legislation that would require public schools to provide free breakfasts and lunches to all kids, which would be reimbursed by the state. Raper said as a former educator, he saw the need firsthand.
"Statistics indicate hunger comes down to certain poverty levels, which is not always accurate," Raper said. "My personal statistic is that one hungry child is too many."
Raper's bill failed on a 3-5 vote, while Clemmons' bill failed to receive a second. Clemmons criticized the committee on Thursday, noting free school meals received high bipartisan support in a recent Vanderbilt University poll.
"We have an opportunity, a fiscally responsible way, to address child hunger in our schools," Clemmons said. "Yet we still refuse to do that very basic thing."
TN4All rallies against vouchers, grocery tax, corporate tax loopholes
Around 200 people representing faith, labor and community organizations rallied on the steps of the Capitol on Tuesday. The diverse group, known as the Tennessee for All Coalition, voiced their opposition to the school voucher expansion. They also pressed to close corporate tax loopholes, end the grocery tax and fund universal pre-K in Tennessee.
Angela Wynn, a mother with children at Rutherford County Schools, told a story about her grandfather overcoming racial barriers and earning his doctorate. She worries that vouchers will divert much-needed money from public schools and widen disparities.
"Let us honor the legacy of those that fought for equal access to education," she said.
Around 100 people from the rally marched a half mile to demonstrate outside the Amazon corporate office on Nelson Merry Street. Several were carrying signs that read "Amazon: Stop funding lawmakers who harm our communities" and wore bright yellow shirts that said "Kids Not Corporations."
Catch up on the week
State bill would curtail local authority to revoke party vehicle permits
TN bill to require schools show fetal development video, cites anti-abortion ‘Baby Olivia’
House GOP quashes effort to have AG handle legislature's sexual harassment investigations
Democrats question if Lee tax plan could benefit his private company as alternative push fails
Got a question for us?
Got a question about state politics you would like us to tackle? Let us know. Email us at mabrown@tennessean.com, vjones@tennessean.com or statehouse@tennessean.com.
Rachel Wegner contributed to this report.
This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Tennessee politics: Rep. Justin Jones draws GOP ire with visit to border
