by Selena Hill
June 16, 2026
Republican lawmakers say the legislation was handed for public security and to forestall undocumented staff from driving.
A brand new Tennessee legislation set to take impact in January is reigniting debate over immigration after Republican lawmakers accredited stricter necessities for acquiring a driver’s license and registering a car.
The laws would require candidates to supply proof of U.S. citizenship or lawful residency earlier than acquiring a driver’s license or registering a car within the state. The legislation additionally introduces new English-language proficiency necessities for driver’s license candidates. Supporters say the measures are designed to enhance public security and strengthen immigration enforcement, whereas critics argue the legislation may create pointless obstacles for authorized immigrants and worldwide staff, reviews Native 3 Information.
Beneath the brand new coverage, candidates who can’t initially take the written driver’s license examination in English might obtain a restricted license after finishing the check in one other language. Nevertheless, they are going to be required to return after the primary yr and cross a written English examination.
Republican Tennessee Rep. Michele Reneau informed Native 3 Information that the legislation was designed to enhance street security and be sure that drivers perceive roadway directions written in English. Supporters additionally argue that the legislation is a device to discourage unauthorized immigration and shut perceived loopholes within the state’s licensing and car registration methods.
“That is simply an essential step in tightening the noose round this unlawful immigration concern,” mentioned Reneau. “It’s actually essential for the security of Tennesseans to have the ability to make it as tough as doable, and hopefully that discouragement by not having the ability to get that license will discourage them from driving.”
Critics, nonetheless, warn that the legislation may have unintended financial penalties. Terry Olsen, a Chattanooga immigration lawyer, mentioned the brand new legislation will negatively have an effect on the state’s financial progress by probably making Tennessee much less engaging to worldwide expertise and overseas funding.
“I might identical to everybody to grasp that I feel that we’re altering 30 years of progress,” he informed the native information channel.
Olsen additionally argued that site visitors indicators rely extra on shade than on language. Moreover, he says that in a rustic depending on automobiles for mobility, prohibiting non-residents from registering vehicles and denying them licenses primarily based on language may hurt the economic system by affecting relationships with worldwide firms.
“When you’ve firms wanting the place to find, they have a look at elements…Commerce groups have a look at colleges, schooling, high quality of life motion, and a part of that motion and high quality of life could be driving, and so when you’ve a tradition within the U.S. that’s about vehicles, and we don’t have the place you may take a practice or a bus or can stroll someplace, it actually reduces these elements.”
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