Tennessee U.S. Senator Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) spoke on the Senate floor on Wednesday to highlight the rise in migrant crime in the Volunteer State during the final months of the Biden administration and called on her colleagues to pass legislation to support President Trump’s mass deportation efforts.
Blackburn pointed to last month’s report published by the Tennessee District Attorneys General Conference (TNDAGC) which showed there were 2,719 reports of illegal immigrants charged with or convicted of a criminal offense in Tennessee during the last three months of 2024.
The report included data from 73 of Tennessee’s 95 counties, with complete reports from only 71 counties.
The illegal immigrants, according to TNDAGC’s report, came to Tennessee from 92 different countries, with the common country of origin being Mexico, followed by Guatemala, Honduras, and Venezuela.
“Here’s the bottom line: Because of Biden’s open border, thousands of crimes were committed by thousands of criminal illegal aliens in the State of Tennessee over just a three-month span. And this is just one state. We know this is happening in communities across the country,” Blackburn said on the Senate floor Wednesday.
Blackburn went on to say TNDAGC’s report “underscores the importance of President Trump’s mass deportations,” further calling on lawmakers to support Trump’s efforts through passing proactive legislation.
One piece of legislation Blackburn said Congress should pass is her CLEAR Act which would strengthen the collaboration between federal and local law enforcement authorities in immigration enforcement.
Blackburn also mentioned her Preventing Violence Against Women by Illegal Aliens Act, which would allow the deportation of illegal aliens convicted of sexual offenses or domestic violence, and her CONTAINER Act, which would ensure that border states such reserve the legal authority to place temporary barriers on federal land to help stop the flow of traffickers, drugs, and criminals at the southern border.
“With thousands of criminal illegals residing in Tennessee and across the country, we should be using every resource at our disposal to remove them from our country. In many ways, these bills would help President Trump get the job done,” Blackburn said.
Watch Blackburn’s full remarks:
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Kaitlin Housler is a reporter at The Tennessee Star and The Star News Network. Follow Kaitlin on X / Twitter.
