The Tennessee Department of Health agreed, for now, to hold off on plans to report children without legal immigration status, who receive healthcare through the publicly-funded Children's Special Services program, to a state immigration office. Pictured: the Davidson County Courthouse. (Photo: John Partipilo/Tennessee Lookout)
The Tennessee Department of Health has agreed to stop reporting sick, disabled children to a state immigration enforcement division while a legal challenge to the policy continues, according to an order filed Tuesday in Davidson County Chancery Court.
A negotiated agreement between attorneys challenging the immigration reporting policy and lawyers for the state keeps about 400 immigrant children enrolled — for now — in Children’s Special Services, a publicly-funded safety net program for medically fragile children.
“This agreement provides vital protections for families who should never have been forced to choose between their child’s healthcare and the fear of immigration enforcement,” said Michele Johnson, executive director of the Tennessee Justice Center.
The nonprofit law firm represents three doctors who are challenging the health department in court.
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“We are pleased that these parents can breathe a sigh of relief knowing that their children will be safe while this case moves forward,” said Johnson.
The department in early June notified 400 immigrant families that their children would be reported to the Tennessee Centralized Immigration Enforcement Division as a condition of continued care in the program. The immigration division is an entity established by GOP lawmakers last year to foster closer collaboration between the state and federal immigration enforcement.
The 400 immigrant children are among about 4,600 kids enrolled in the program statewide.
In notifying parents, John Dunn, the health department’s interim commissioner, cited a new Tennessee law requiring the reporting of individuals without legal immigration status who seek or receive public benefits.
The notice alarmed parents, public health officials and healthcare providers, who noted that children only qualify for the program if they are medically fragile and require ongoing and, in some cases life-sustaining, healthcare. Children’s Special Services is a last-resort safety net program for children who are uninsured or underinsured.
Three doctors with affected patients filed a legal challenge to the department’s policy on June 24. The physicians argued the health department was misinterpreting the new state law, violating rules of federal funding that helps underwrite the program and moving forward with a policy that was contrary to the public good.
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Chancery Court Judge Patricia Head Moskal temporarily blocked the reporting policy from taking effect on the same day doctors filed suit then extended her block for another week while the sides negotiated out of court.
Tuesday’s temporary injunction extends the block for the foreseeable future, while lawyers challenging the policy pursue an administrative procedure within the Department of Health in an effort to get the department to voluntarily end their efforts to report immigrant children.
Tuesday’s order also requires state health officials to re-enroll any child who left the program as a result of the new policy and to disregard any requests to withdraw from the program made by families fearful of their child being a target of immigration enforcement.
The state health department must send letters to families, post the order on its Children’s Special Services webpage and notify healthcare providers, the order said.
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Courtesy of Tennessee Lookout
