RELEASE: Tennessee Leaders Condemn Governor Lee's National Guard Deployment for Mass Deportations
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
August 6, 2025
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Tennessee Leaders Condemn Governor Lee's National Guard Deployment for Mass Deportations
TIRRC and Faith Leaders Call Guard Mobilization "Authoritarian Playbook" That Betrays Tennessee Values
KNOXVILLE, TN – After hearing that Governor Bill Lee has called on the National Guard to support with ICE deportations across Tennessee, advocates and faith leaders across the state speak out against such a harmful move that will not only separate families, but is a move from the authoritarian playbook.
“As a faith leader called to love my neighbor as myself, I am deeply troubled by Governor Lee's decision to deploy Tennessee's National Guard to assist in the Trump administration’s mass deportations. This action represents a fundamental betrayal of our values and a dangerous misuse of resources meant to protect all Tennesseans.
"Lasting security comes from strong communities, not from terrorizing our neighbors. It is based on a promise of peace, not a foundation of fear. When we talk about guarding our nation, we must remember that our greatest strength has always been our commitment to freedom and justice for all people—not just those who look like us or were born in the same place as us.
"Are we a people who guard our nation by living up to our highest ideals of freedom and justice, or do we guard it through fear and division? The National Guard should be protecting Tennesseans from natural disasters and genuine emergencies. They did not sign up to be weaponized against our own communities. Mass deportation of 11 million people could cost an estimated $315 billion—resources that could dramatically stimulate education, healthcare, and infrastructure for all Tennesseans.
"We call on Governor Lee to reverse this shameful decision and instead use Tennessee's resources to build the beloved community where all people—regardless of where they were born, what language they speak, or with what beautiful shade their skin glistens—can live with dignity, safety, and hope. That is how we truly guard our nation and honor the values that make America worth defending."
"This is a dangerous precedent that will serve to not only tear apart immigrant families, but destroy our communities and our neighborhoods. As Tennesseans we have to stand up for each other, to stand up for our values, and to stand up for democracy. This is a classic playbook from authoritarians throughout history, using an emergency, real or invented, to consolidate power, to suspend the rules, and rewrite the laws in order to serve their own interests.
"It’s our job as Tennesseans to say no and reject this lie, refuse to let fear become the foundation of the law. We know that Tennesseans every day are struggling to put food on the table, finding good jobs, and making sure that a roof is over their head, paying for their home insurance, sending their kids to good quality public schools, and so many other needs that impact all of us, regardless of where we come from. Rather than addressing any of these real concrete needs of everyday Tennesseans Governor Lee is using immigrant communities to further his own agenda, and to support Trump's mass deportation plan.
"The federal government is already spending billions of dollars on increasing immigration enforcement, detention and deportation. We need to make sure that our resources are being used to address the needs of everyday working class Tennesseans."