Natalie Allison

Nashville Tennessean

Some 200 immigrants filled the office hallways of the Tennessee legislature on Tuesday, this time focused on legislation targeting the youngest among them: Babies whose parents have no lawful status.

Organized by the Tennessee Immigrant and Refugee Rights Coalition, the group's annual day on the hill largely centered on legislation sponsored by the freshman lawmaker who says he wants to help President Donald Trump pay for a southern border wall.

A bill filed by Rep. Bruce Griffey, R-Paris, seeks to restrict or limit welfare benefits to anyone who is not a United States citizen, he said.

While the bill's abstract written by the legislature's legal services says it would prevent pregnant women who are in the country unlawfully from obtaining prenatal care services and nutrition assistance from the state, Griffey described that wording as "placeholder language."

According to the abstract for House Bill 1238, which is being carried in the Senate by Sen. Mark Pody, R-Lebanon, the Department of Health must verify the citizenship or lawful resident status of women applying for prenatal care or the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children, also known as WIC.

An amendment provided by Griffey, which he said has already been filed with the clerk's office, mentions neither prenatal care nor welfare in general, however. The amendment rather pertains to judges inquiring about defendants' citizenship and legal status and the appropriate bond amounts for individuals in the country unlawfully.

The amendment hasn't yet been heard in committee.

"If Rep. Bruce Griffey has his way and all the new bills were passed, he would have stopped me and my baby from accessing life-saving medical care when he was born," said Karla Vazquez, a 28-year-old from Nashville with a 2-month-old baby boy, Leo.

Vazquez, who received Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, spoke during a news conference on Legislative Plaza before the group made its away inside for scheduled meetings with more than 60 lawmakers, according to TIRRC.

Second bill would deny birth certificate if parents undocumented

Among a collection of Griffey bills, TIRRC is also speaking out against HB 662, currently written as a caption bill without specific language. But an amendment Griffey has filed shows the legislation would deny birth certificates to babies whose parents do not have a lawful immigration status.

The bill is also being carried in the Senate by Pody.

The amendment, which also has not been heard or approved in committee, states that Tennessee would not issue a birth certificate to a child who does not have a mother or father who is a citizen.

A memo also distributed to members of the House public health subcommittee states Griffey's intention is to "solve the problem" of citizen babies being issued birth certificates if their parents are in the country illegally.

Griffey said he also would consider a law that would denote on those children's birth certificates that their parents are not lawful residents.

He also has filed a resolution praising Trump for his pledge to end birthright citizenship, or the constitutional guarantee to citizenship for anyone born in the United States.

As for whether HB 662 was written in that spirit, Griffey said it was.

"I think that's a fair assumption," Griffey said.

Without a birth certificate for their children, immigrant parents would theoretically experience difficulty accessing services for them. Obtaining a social security number, health care for the child and enrolling the child in school would become more complicated.

In a statement, TIRRC said legislation doing so would "undoubtedly implicate the state in costly and embarrassing litigation."

Reach Natalie Allison at nallison@tennessean.com. Follow her on Twitter at @natalie_allison.

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