House approves bill to ban consular IDs to establish identity

House lawmakers approved a bill Thursday that would prohibit state and local officials from accepting certain forms of identification to establish identity.

The legislation would prohibit those officials from accepting consular IDs, which are commonly used to verify identity and help the Mexican government track its citizens for tax purposes.

The legislation also would prohibit officials from accepting locally issued forms of identification, including student IDs and library cards, for the purpose of establishing identity. 

The House approved the measure, which critics said would strain law enforcement officials and threaten Tennessee’s relationship with Mexico, the third largest importer of goods made in the Volunteer State, with a 72-23 vote.

All votes in favor came from Republicans, with the lone exception being Rep. John Mark Windle, D-Livingston.

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Before the chamber's vote, the bill generated some heated debate. 

When Rep. John Ray Clemmons, D-Nashville, tried to amend the bill, he called it a "mild and moderate" effort to make the legislation more palatable. 

"Representative, you may have been referred to as many things. Moderate, I don't believe, is one of them, but I understand you absolutely cannot stand this bill. I get that you would like to gut it," said Rep. William Lamberth, R-Cottontown. 

He said law enforcement doesn't take any items, like consular IDs, they are given and "use it as the gospel."

"This bill continues to allow them to use (consular IDs) as a lead, just like if they found a credit card or an expired ID or something else that was on someone's person," Lamberth said. 

As written, Lamberth's legislation explicitly bans law enforcement officials from accepting consular IDs to establish identity. 

"Mr. sponsor, I think you know me well enough to know that if I wanted to gut your legislation I would gut your legislation or at least try to," Clemmons said, resulting in jeers from some Republicans in the chamber. 

He argued that the legislation, which he called a "dog whistle for immigration," would waste law enforcement resources.

Clemmons' amendment was preceded by another, sponsored by Rep. Joe Pitts, D-Clarksville, which would've ensured that parents could use consular IDs to attend school events. 

"That is not something that I think is safe for our schools to implement," Lamberth said. 

He added that his "real fear" would be that someone could use a consular ID card to deceive school officials into releasing a child to the wrong person.

The bill contains a provision to allow parents to use consular IDs to enroll children in schools, which is required by federal law. 

Lamberth said his legislation was not aimed at fixing an issue that's currently occurring in Tennessee, but he was seeking to stave off any potential for it becoming a problem in the future. 

After rejecting Clemmons' and Pitts' amendments, the House easily passed the measure. 

"We are deeply concerned that the House voted to pass this cruel and dangerous legislation," said Lisa Sherman-Nikolaus, policy director of the Tennessee Immigrant and Refugee Rights Coalition. 

"It specifically targets Tennessee residents from Mexico and Central America, and would make it far more difficult for police to accomplish the essential task of establishing a person's identity."

The Senate was slated to take up the proposal on the floor this week, but the bill's sponsor, Sen. Mark Green, R-Clarksville, asked for it to be sent back to a committee. 

Reach Joel Ebert at jebert@tennessean.com or 615-772-1681 and on Twitter @joelebert29.