• • Nashville immigration evolution spurs Obama visit
• • President Obama to give immigration speech in Nashville
• • Obama's Immigration Actions Do Have Limits
• • Diverse schools spark changes in Tennessee

Six years ago, Nashvillians appeared on the brink of passing a divisive measure to make English the only language used in official Metro government business.

Instead voters - surprising many at the time - went to the polls and decisively rejected what had become known as the "English-only" referendum.

Now, after avoiding a potential black-eye in immigrant relations, Nashville is set to host President Barack Obama on Tuesday for a speech on his executive actions to provide temporary legal status and work permits to more than 5 million immigrants who are in this country illegally.

The president's pick of Nashville for remarks on a polarizing issue that could define his second term is recognition of the city boasting one of the country's fastest-growing immigrant populations - a place that while still known foremost for its country music and honky-tonks, has increasingly gained international flavor.

While the White House could have picked a city with a larger immigrant community, it chose one in a conservative Southern state, a dynamic that shows the rise in immigration in places outside the likes of California, Texas and Florida.

It also selected a city that has responded to its immigrant spike - 12 percent of Nashville residents are foreign-born, double the figure from a decade ago - by adopting a series of new government programs and services, pushed by Mayor Karl Dean, to assist the city's new arrivals.

It's a presidential trip that would have seemed improbable in the weeks leading up to Jan. 22, 2009, when Nashville voters ultimately defeated, by a margin of 57 percent to 43 percent, the contentious English-only initiative.

Today, that date is seen as a watershed moment for Nashville's openness to foreign-born newcomers, one in which an unlikely coalition, from labor unions to the Nashville Area Chamber of Commerce, joined together to lead opposition.

"What I hope is that he's coming here because Nashville is recognized as a city that's been welcoming, a city that's worked to find common ground and make new Americans feel welcomed to our city," Dean said.

"The defeat of English-only, I think, was a big moment in the city's history. It was another example of Nashvillians tending to move in a direction that is positive, a direction that is future-oriented and in a direction that's inclusive."

Deportation debate

But the narrative of Nashville that will set the stage for Obama's visit - his second stop here in less than a year - isn't entirely rosy for immigrant advocates.

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Joey Garrison, jgarrison@tennessean.com
3:58 p.m. CST December 4, 2014

President Barack Obama is visiting Nashville next week to discuss his recent executive actions on immigration in a stop that will shine a spotlight on one of the nation's fastest-growing immigrant populations.

The president, who will make his second trip to Davidson County in less than a year, will deliver his remarks Tuesday at Casa Azafran, an immigrant community center on Nolensville Pike that opened two years ago.

His visit comes two weeks after he issued an executive order to provide temporary legal status and work permits to more than 5 million immigrants who are in this country illegally. Seventeen states have joined together in a federal lawsuit to challenge the constitutionality of Obama's action, but Tennessee is not among them.

"With the number of foreign-born residents more than doubling over the past decade, Nashville has actively worked to welcome new Americans," White House press secretary Josh Earnest said. "Through community-based programs and government initiatives, the city is empowering and engaging New American community leaders. And the city's actions are paying off."

In January, Obama visited Nashville's McGavock High School, where he gave a speech touting Metro Nashville Public Schools' Academies program in its high schools.

This time, a larger national audience probably will be watching after Obama announced plans last month to use the power of the Oval Office to overhaul what he's called a broken immigration system. According to the White House, the president will also use his Nashville speech to urge Congress to pass a comprehensive bill on immigration.

"It's always an honor and a thrill when a sitting president visits Nashville," Nashville Democratic U.S. Rep. Jim Cooper said. "I welcome President Obama to our vibrant, thriving and diverse city. Nashville is the perfect setting for his remarks."

But while immigrant advocates have cheered Obama's decision, Republicans have accused Obama of overstepping his executive powers. And Thursday, the Republican-controlled House passed a bill declaring his actions "null and void and without legal effect."

"President Obama continues to relentlessly assault the Constitution and American workers," Republican U.S. Rep. Marsha Blackburn of Williamson County said. "I hope he plans on explaining to Tennesseans why they will now have to compete for jobs with illegal aliens to whom he is unilaterally granting work permits."

Foreign-born population soars

An estimated 124,000 immigrants are living in Tennessee illegally, with some 50,000 residing in Davidson County. Under Obama's plan, up to half of Tennessee's illegal immigrants would qualify for legal status, many of them because they are parents to children who were either born in the United States or have a green card.

Nashville's foreign-born population is nearing 12 percent, about double from a decade ago and fueling the city's overall population growth during that span. Thirty percent of Metro's public school students reside in homes where English is not the primary language, and 140 languages are spoken across the district.

Though the majority of Nashville's immigrants are Hispanic, the city has welcomed large Kurdish, Somali and Burmese refugee groups as well.

In recent months, Mayor Karl Dean and others have led a series of initiatives and programs aimed at the city's immigrants.

In September, Dean opened an Office of New Americans, which is tasked with involving immigrants in local government, expanding economic and educational opportunities and creating partnerships between Metro and community organizations. A month earlier, Dean signed an agreement with the U.S. Citizen and Immigrant Services to turn five libraries and four community centers in Nashville into information hubs for legal permanent residents interested in gaining citizenship.

Dean and Metro schools also have created a Parent Ambassadors program to connect immigrant families based on their shared languages so that newcomers have guidance navigating the school system.

Those announcements came after Dean, joined by three Nashville immigrant activists, gave a speech at the White House National Convening on Immigrant and Refugee Integration in July.

"We are honored that President Obama has chosen our city as a place to talk about the nation's immigration system," Dean said. "Nashville continues to lead the way as a welcoming and open city to immigrants with the recent opening of the Mayor's Office of New Americans, one of the first of its kind in the South.

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As broadly as President Barack Obama may push the limits of his authority to shield from deportation millions of immigrants illegally in the United States, the fate of millions more will still be left unresolved.

Obama is preparing to flex his executive powers Thursday, using an 8 p.m. EST address to announce that he is sidestepping Congress and ordering his own federal action on immigration.

The reaction from congressional Republicans has been swift and fierce, heralding the start of what could be one of the most pitched partisan confrontations of Obama's presidency.

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NASHVILLE - It wasn't all that long ago that Candy Clifford joined Murfreesboro City Schools as the district's sole community outreach coordinator. Her task was to immerse in whatever diverse cultures local families were bringing into the schools. She helped everyone get along.

Now 13 years later, a boom in diversity in Murfreesboro - home to four of the 10 most-diverse schools in Tennessee - means Clifford doesn't do the job alone. A whole team, including two Spanish-speaking coordinators and a part-time Arabic coordinator, work to understand diversity in the district.

"What we've done is try to celebrate who they are and also educate them to be successful in their community and in our schools," Clifford said. "We have coordinators that work very one-on-one with these families."

Murfreesboro has seen the kind of change that makes this year a unique one in American history. For the first time, public schools began this year with white students in the minority, a trend projected to continue.
According to data from the National Center for Education Statistics - analyzed by USA TODAY - the white minority is not yet the case in Tennessee classrooms, where 67 percent of students are white. But change is coming.

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The IDs in question look similar to old Tennessee driver's licenses.

Sabrina Jacal, the owner of the business making the IDs, said she has no problem making the identification for undocumented immigrants.

"They are not in this country legally, you have no problem making them this ID?" asked chief investigative reporter Jeremy Finley.

"Correct," said Jacal.

Jacal owns Servicio Internacional in Antioch.

Two sources, who have seen the IDs, told Channel 4 it is well known in the undocumented immigrant population in Nashville that you can go to Servicio Internacional to get an identification card, even if you don't have proof of you who you are.

"All it takes is money," said the first source. Both sources asked Channel 4 to conceal their identity because they live and work in that community.

"They just look like regular IDs," said the second source. "Getting these kinds of IDs; it's people faking who they're really supposed to be. We don't know who these people are."

Servicio's advertisements online and fliers clearly state that they provide IDs.

The only entity authorized to make government IDs is the state of Tennessee.

The Channel 4 I-Team sent in two Spanish speaking men first carrying undercover cameras.

When they entered, a woman worked the front door said that they sell international driver's licenses as well as non-government IDs.

Both of the men working with the I-Team said that they had proof of who they are.

The woman at the front desk said all they needed was someone with an ID to vouch for them in order to get the ID.

Channel 4 then sent in a Spanish speaking man and a 22-year-old woman. The woman claimed she needed an ID but had no proof of her identity.

The man accompanying her did have an ID and said he would vouch for her.

The woman at the front desk said if they paid $85, the man could sign an affidavit and vouch for her identity.

 

While Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott led 16 other states Wednesday is a lawsuit against President Barack Obama over his recent immigration executive orders, Tennessee didn't join in.

That doesn't mean Tennessee won't in the future, said Leigh Ann Jones, a spokeswoman for Tennessee Attorney General Herbert Slatery.

"The fact that Tennessee is not currently one of the plaintiffs does not mean that Attorney General Slatery has decided against joining the lawsuit or that he is opposed to appropriate legal action," Jones said in a statement.

In November the president announced he would sign several executive orders to delay deportation of potentially 4.9 million immigrants who are in the United States illegally. There are an estimated 124,000 immigrants living in Tennessee illegally. According to the Migration Policy Institute and immigration reform advocates in the state estimate as many as 50,000 immigrants in Tennessee will be affected by the executive orders.

Republican lawmakers in Tennessee and across the country blasted the move, accusing the president of usurping powers given to Congress by taking the executive action.

Obama said if Congress didn't like the action, it could pass a comprehensive immigration reform bill.

Almost immediately after the president's announcement, Abbott, who was recently elected to serve as Texas' governor, and many others pledged to sue the president over his action. At the time Slatery didn't commit to a lawsuit; Jones echoed comments Slatery made at the time.