Judge blocks Tennessee from reporting sick children to immigration authorities, for now

Nashville, Tennessee (AP) — A judge temporarily ordered the Tennessee Department of Health not to give immigration authorities information about roughly 400 seriously sick and disabled immigrant children who are enrolled in a healthcare assistance program.The restraining order was issued Wednesday at the request of three Nashville doctors who treat some of those children and who sued after state officials sent letters to providers and immigrant families saying a new law required them to share identifying information for those on the program after the end of June. The law was part of a group of bills that Tennessee Republicans introduced this year to support President Donald Trump’s immigration crackdown. A spokesperson for the state attorney general’s office said Thursday that it had no comment on the lawsuit and the complaint was under review. State officials have not replied to the complaint in court documents.

“This is an impossible choice for mothers, and it risks the lives and the dignity of these children,” said Michele Johnson, executive director of the Tennessee Justice Center, which filed the lawsuit on the doctors’ behalf.

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