Prayer request flyers handed out at senator’s church amid immigration education bill debate

CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. (WDEF)- A controversial bill being advanced by a Hamilton County lawmaker is continuing to receive pushback.

Senate Bill 836, sponsored by Senator Bo Watson, would give local schools the option to not enroll students if they are undocumented.

A copy of the flyer handed out to parishoners of Sen. Watson’s church over the weekend. (Courtesy: Education for All Tennessee)

He argues that this is necessary because of rising attendance and tighter budgets across the state.

However, opponents of the bill feel that it is discriminatory against those students.

Several of them went to Senator Watson’s church over the weekend to hand out flyers branded as prayer requests.

They urged his fellow parishioners to oppose the legislation.

One of those opponents to the bill, Soddy-Daisy resident Paige Rumlow, said, “I don’t feel that children, as a mother personally, should be told that their education doesn’t matter. That their futures don’t matter, and I could not fathom coming home to tell my child that they’re no longer welcome at their school. That they no longer matter to the state of Tennessee because of where they were born.”

The bill will be heard by committees in both the Tennessee House and Senate this week.