House Speaker Cameron Sexton rips Nashville Mayor David Briley’s sanctuary cities order – The Tennessean
House Speaker Cameron Sexton rips Nashville Mayor David Briley’s sanctuary cities order The Tennessean
Last week, Nashville Mayor David Briley issued an executive order urging the repeal of an anti-sanctuary cities state law.
House Speaker Cameron Sexton on Tuesday blasted Nashville Mayor David Briley’s recent executive order related to sanctuary cities.
“Mayor Briley’s dangerous executive order is a last minute political ploy and a slap in the face to all law abiding citizens and to our local law enforcement agencies,” Sexton said in a news release. “We are a representative republic of law and order, and no city or local mayor has the power to circumvent state or federal law.”
Sexton’s comments come two days before Nashville’s mayoral election and one week after Briley, who faces a challenge from At-large Metro Council member John Cooper in Thursday’s mayoral runoff election, issued his executive order.
The order challenges the constitutionality of HB 2315 and asks lawmakers to overturn it. The state law prohibits local governments’ from receiving state economic development money if they do not comply with a ban on “sanctuary city” type policies.
The state also directs local law enforcement officials to comply with ICE requests to hold immigrants for purposes of deportation.
Critics of the legislation said it places restrictions on local police and forces local governments to bear the brunt of expenses associated with federal immigration enforcement.
During an appearance on WTN radio Tuesday morning, Sexton called Briley’s executive order irresponsible.
“The cities and the counties and the mayors don’t have the ability to not follow the law,” he said.
Last week, Sexton, R-Crossville, was not among those who signed a letter written by more than 30 state lawmakers who urged city officials to follow the state law.
Sexton noted more than 15 percent of Nashville’s budget comes from state funding. “That’s a big portion of their budget that needs to be looked at from the state if they want to continue down this path,” he said.
Sexton chalked up Briley’s executive order to an effort to get a leg up in the polls among voters.
“All of the sudden when he’s down in the polls he’s decided he doesn’t like the law,” he said.
Last week, Briley defended his decision, citing a recent surge of immigration enforcement efforts as a rationale for the order.
“The city of Nashville believes that HB 2315 is bad for Nashville, and as a result, it’s bad for the state,” Briley said in an interview with The Tennessean. “It’s bad because it makes it harder for us to keep our city safe. Harder for us to keep our city healthy. Harder for us to educate the children that live in this city. Ultimately, everybody is going to pay for those difficulties.”
On Tuesday, Thomas Mulgrew, a spokesman for Briley, said the executive order does not violate state law and Sexton’s comments were “scare tactics and veiled threats.”
Cooper, who has so far not criticized the contents of Briley’s executive order, said he will review all executive orders if he is elected mayor.
Yihyun Jeong contributed to this report.
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Reach Joel Ebert at jebert@tennessean.com or 615-772-1681 and on Twitter @joelebert29.
Published 4:21 PM EDT Sep 10, 2019
