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mysteryowl

(8,656 posts)
Wed Feb 4, 2026, 08:02 AM 8 hrs ago

Tennessee to test Stephen Miller's plan of enlisting states for immigration enforcement

Source: The Guardian/US

The power to enforce immigration law rests with the federal government. But Trump adviser, Stephen Miller, has a vision for states working in coordination with federal immigration officials, and he’s attempting to test it out in Tennessee.

Earlier this month, the Knoxville News Sentinel reported that Miller had been meeting in Washington DC with Tennessee speaker of the house, Cameron Sexton, to craft model legislation for states around the country.

A few weeks later, the speaker announced a suite of eight bills that would turn state and local police officers, judges, teachers, social workers and others into an auxiliary extension of the federal immigration system. It makes the presence of an undocumented person with a final deportation order a state crime in Tennessee. And it mandates that officials report the presence of undocumented persons to ICE, while criminalizing disclosure of information about immigration enforcement activities to the public.

“The president’s behind us,” said Knoxville-area representative and deputy speaker, Jason Zachary, on a video taken from a talk with a conservative group, describing Sexton’s contact with Miller. “The president has promised his support on social media for us, and we are being told Tennessee will go first.”

Read more: https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/feb/04/stephen-miller-trump-immigration-plan



I think this is proof Stephen Miller is the architect of the ICE mess and horrors.
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Tennessee to test Stephen Miller's plan of enlisting states for immigration enforcement (Original Post) mysteryowl 8 hrs ago OP
What could go wrong?.............. Lovie777 8 hrs ago #1
TN is always an intl disgrace. SheltieLover 8 hrs ago #2
The thing is, state workers DON'T know what any particular person's situation is, and shouldn't. mysteryowl 8 hrs ago #3
Every breath that Nosferatu... GiqueCee 5 hrs ago #15
So is the target going to be Memphis or Nashville? underpants 8 hrs ago #4
According to the article, it is state wide, if these bills are passed. mysteryowl 8 hrs ago #5
I left Tennessee in 2005, have relatives there AverageOldGuy 5 hrs ago #13
Lackeys in line NJCher 7 hrs ago #6
Yes, this is very bad. mysteryowl 7 hrs ago #7
Trump and Miller are trying to create the same type of control mechanisms used by authoritarians throughout history. Lonestarblue 7 hrs ago #8
The TN government is led by governor... littlemissmartypants 6 hrs ago #9
President Miller..... SergeStorms 6 hrs ago #10
They want to force teachers and social workers to turn in immigrants. Americanme 5 hrs ago #11
I don't see social workers and teachers turning people in Bayard 3 hrs ago #17
Sounds like "good Nazis" ratting out Jews in their midst. Martin Eden 5 hrs ago #12
Grotesque and evil. Exactly what you'd expect from Miller. highplainsdem 5 hrs ago #14
This is like Chris Kobach's papers please law SB 1070, enacted in 2010 and the abortion HB 7 in Texas and SB 8 ChicagoTeamster 5 hrs ago #16
The MAGA timms139 2 hrs ago #18
They want their civil war all over again. bluestarone 35 min ago #19

mysteryowl

(8,656 posts)
3. The thing is, state workers DON'T know what any particular person's situation is, and shouldn't.
Wed Feb 4, 2026, 08:16 AM
8 hrs ago

For example, refugees are here legally.
Many immigrants are here legally and in the process.

This would cause people of various cultures to carry around proof of their situation, which is no body's business.

This is a horrible plan!

underpants

(195,508 posts)
4. So is the target going to be Memphis or Nashville?
Wed Feb 4, 2026, 08:16 AM
8 hrs ago

It ain’t gonna be Knoxville or anywhere in Eastern Tennessee

AverageOldGuy

(3,530 posts)
13. I left Tennessee in 2005, have relatives there
Wed Feb 4, 2026, 10:52 AM
5 hrs ago

My guess as to cities and areas that are on Trump's shit list
-- Memphis is a majority Black city.
-- Nashville votes Blue.
-- Not certain about Chattanooga.
-- NE Tennessee votes Republican but there is a big Hispanic population who work tobacco, tomato, and pimento fields, so, Bristol, Johnson City, and Kingsport may be on the list.
-- Knoxville is a Republican city but the University of Tennessee is there, which means a lot of commie socialist liberal woke students and faculty.

Lonestarblue

(13,331 posts)
8. Trump and Miller are trying to create the same type of control mechanisms used by authoritarians throughout history.
Wed Feb 4, 2026, 08:56 AM
7 hrs ago

ICE and CBP are reminding me more and more of East Germany's Stasi. ICE and CBP have more sophisticated technologies for acquiring personal information on both citizens and migrants, but Miller's plan to create a huge network of snitches and informants is straight out of the Stasi playbook. It is all about control of the whole population, not just immigrants.

"As time went on, this remit gradually developed into a wider desire to have information, and therefore control, over the population. Ostensibly this was to keep them safe from disruptive or bad influences, but in reality a climate of fear was an extremely effective tool at creating an obedient population.

Widespread reach

Officially, the Stasi employed around 90,000 people. But in order to achieve such levels of effectiveness, the Stasi relied on mass participation. It’s estimated that 1 in every 6 Germans were involved informed for the Stasi, and every factory, office and apartment block had at least one person living or working there who was on the Stasi payroll.

After the collapse of the DDR, the true extent of Stasi surveillance was revealed: they had been keeping files on 1 in 3 Germans, and had over 500,000 unofficial informants. The materials kept on citizens were wide-ranging: audio files, photographs, film reels and millions of paper records. Tiny cameras, hidden in cigarette cases or bookshelves were used to spy in peoples’ homes; letters would be steamed open and read; conversations recorded; overnight visitors noted down."

https://www.historyhit.com/the-stasi-the-most-terrifying-secret-police-in-history/

littlemissmartypants

(32,685 posts)
9. The TN government is led by governor...
Wed Feb 4, 2026, 10:17 AM
6 hrs ago

Bill Lee, Christian Nationalist neonazi who in college belonged to a frat that promoted the "Old South"...

Lee was a member of the Kappa Alpha Order, a fraternity known at the time for its use of Confederate imagery, and a photo printed in the university's 1980 yearbook shows Lee in a Confederate military uniform at the fraternity's "Old South" party
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bill_Lee_(Tennessee_politician)


A perfect fit.


SergeStorms

(20,186 posts)
10. President Miller.....
Wed Feb 4, 2026, 10:29 AM
6 hrs ago

is a busy little Nazi, isn't he?

For someone whose family escaped the Soviet pogroms and immigrated to the U.S. in the early 20th century, he completely disregards his own history and climbed aboard the white nationalist/anti-immigration train in a hurry.

There's always someone who's ready to slam the door in the face of the person behind them. That person, here, is Stephen Miller and his lovely wife, Katie.

Americanme

(431 posts)
11. They want to force teachers and social workers to turn in immigrants.
Wed Feb 4, 2026, 10:39 AM
5 hrs ago

What's next, prison for anyone caught sheltering an immigrant?

Bayard

(28,966 posts)
17. I don't see social workers and teachers turning people in
Wed Feb 4, 2026, 01:10 PM
3 hrs ago

Their job is to help people, not get them shot. They are trying to turn empathetic citizens into good Nazis.

Martin Eden

(15,431 posts)
12. Sounds like "good Nazis" ratting out Jews in their midst.
Wed Feb 4, 2026, 10:48 AM
5 hrs ago

And I have no doubt Stephen Miller fantasizes about a Final Solution for non-white immigrants in the USA.

ChicagoTeamster

(570 posts)
16. This is like Chris Kobach's papers please law SB 1070, enacted in 2010 and the abortion HB 7 in Texas and SB 8
Wed Feb 4, 2026, 11:09 AM
5 hrs ago

They allow people to report care providers and anyone else who assists a woman receiving medical care and allow reporting parties to sue or collect bounties. The papers please law allowed citizens to sue police officers who didn't stop brown people and ask for their papers to catch undocumented immigrants. The papers please laws resulted in immigrants not going to the police to reports crimes which they used to do before the laws. The abortion reporting laws resulted in nosy Christian Karens reporting their neighbors, mostly false. Both laws wasted a lot of law enforcement time and money chasing down false reports and decreased the cooperation between citizens and law enforcement.

But when have MAGAs ever actually cared about making anything better or making government more efficient?

bluestarone

(21,601 posts)
19. They want their civil war all over again.
Wed Feb 4, 2026, 03:55 PM
35 min ago

I really can see why that civil war took place!! Jesus Christ almighty.

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