A new bill looks to strengthen immigration enforcement in Tennessee.
State Senator Brent Taylor (R-Memphis) introduced Senate Bill (SB) 1486, which would require local law enforcement agencies to “accept and honor” federal immigration detainers.
According to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, an immigration detainer is a “request from ICE that asks a federal, state or local law enforcement agency — including jails, prisons or other confinement facilities” to hold an immigrant detainer for up to 48 hours and notify the agency when an immigrant detainer is released.
SB 1486 defines “accept and honor” as complying “with the requested conditions in the immigration detainer.” These conditions may include holding an immigrant detainer for 48 hours and notifying the federal government if an immigrant detainer is about to be released.
Currently, 59 police departments across 41 Tennessee counties participate in the 287 (g) program. This accounts for 43 percent of Tennessee’s counties participating in it.
The Tennessee Department of Corrections and the Tennessee Department of Safety and Homeland Security also participate in the program.
The 287 (g) program is an immigration program that allows state and local law enforcement to act as immigration officers in specific circumstances.
As a politician, Taylor has been one of the leading people in helping clean up Memphis’ crime problem.
In October 2025, Taylor said he would file legislation that would mandate that district attorneys provide a written explanation to the federal government if they decide to limit, dismiss, or decline to prosecute cases generated by the Memphis Safe Task Force.
As of Monday, the task force has arrested 5,758 people since the operation started in September.
Before this task force started helping Memphis reduce its crime rate, FBI Director Kash Patel in May 2025 called Tennessee’s second biggest city the “homicide capital of America, per capita
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Zachery Schmidt is the digital editor of The Star News Network. Email tips to Zachery at zschmidt1717@gmail.com.
