Image: Commissioner Margie Quin of the Department of Children’s Services Image Credit: Tennessee Department of Children’s Services / Facebook
submitted by Connie Reguli, J.D. –
The Tennessee Department of Children’s Services is using the state agency foster care system to house undocumented alien children (UAC) and using state tax dollars to obtain immigration status under SCJIS (Special Circumstances Juvenile Immigration Status) for these juveniles.
While Tennessee’s Department of Corrections and the Department of Safety and Homeland Security have partnered with ICE in classic takedown style to eradicate Tennessee of illegal aliens, the Department of Children’s Services is hiding them in plain sight and using Tennessee tax dollars to do so.
Besides the obvious conflict between these agencies and apparent lack of coordination, a variety of other problems arise in this ruse.
First, under 8 U.S.C.1324(a)(1)(A)(iii) it is a federal crime “for any person who, knowing or in reckless disregard of the fact that an alien has come to, entered, or remains in the United States in violation of law, conceals, harbors, or shields from detection, or attempts to conceal, harbor, or shield from detection, such alien in any place, including any building or any means of transportation.” Commissioner Margie Quin of the Department of Children’s Services has knowledge of undocumented alien children in the state foster care system and she has culpability for this offense, along with each state employee who assists in this process.
Second, the state agency, Department of Children’s Services, receives a substantial amount of federal funds under Title IV E for the foster care system to provide care for Tennessee’s children. In addition, children in foster care are placed on Medicaid and Tennessee receives substantial funds for Medicaid payments for these children. Diluting the services available to Tennessee children by housing and providing services for undocumented children is troubling, especially in light of the repeated reports about the lack of foster homes and Tennessee children sleeping in DCS offices.
Source – Tennessee 2025-2026 budget – Children’s Services – Recommended budget includes $230,122,500 in federal funds.
https://digitaltennessee.tnsos.gov/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1024&context=fa_budget_vol_1
Third, the SCJIS program is replete with fraud. A recent report stated this:
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) has released a new report exposing serious national security risks and widespread abuse in the Special Immigrant Juvenile (SIJ) program. The findings, published on July 24, 2025, reveal that hundreds of gang members, violent criminals, and even suspected terrorists have used the SIJ pathway to gain lawful permanent residence and, eventually, U.S. citizenship. This report has sparked urgent debate about the future of The SIJ program, which was originally designed to protect abused, neglected, or abandoned children.
Given that it is unlikely that DCS has proper documentation to vet the children being placed in foster care, there is no way to know if Tennessee is part of this widespread fraud.
Fourth, state tax payer dollars have gone to an organization called: Tennessee Justice for Our Neighbors, Inc to hire immigration attorneys for UAC. After the SCJIS visas are obtained, the UAC are released to persons who are likely undocumented aliens. This entire process is concealed from ICE. They receive no information on the UAC or the persons taking custody after visas are obtained. This permits the sponsors to claim family status with the “now-legally-present” UAC and obtain immigration status. This hidden agenda will permit millions of undocumented alien adults to obtain immigration status by “gaming the system”, all unknown to ICE.
This is how we got here:
On May 24, 2021, an airplane full of UAC was flown into Chattanooga. Governor Lee’s response appeared on “Twitter” was reported by WVTL Channel 8:
According to Governor Bill Lee, Tennessee declined the Biden Administration’s request to, “house unaccompanied minors and called on the administration to secure the border.”
“When we demand answers, they cut off transparency and emboldened one of the worst human trafficking crises we’ve seen at our border in the last 20 years,” Bill Lee said.
Lee said he commended Senator Bill Hagerty and Marsha Blackburn, “for calling this out.”
“Tennesseans deserve to know who is coming into our state,” Gov. Lee said.
The Biden administration whitewashed this episode with the press secretary Psaki releasing this statement:
“As we have been very clear about, our objective is to unite these unaccompanied children, children under the age of 18, with families, with sponsor families,” said Psaki, “These children have been traveling through Tennessee. They are simply on their way to unite with relatives and sponsors, to meet sponsors in the state, or just traveling through Tennessee until they reach another destination to unite with family members or legal sponsors. As you know, geographically it’s right in a place where there are a lot of states around it, so it’s a place where some flights have gone through as children are moving to other destinations.”
The immediate response of state and federal legislators was to challenge this move with Tennessee Lookout reporting in June 2021:
Sen. Dawn White, a Murfreesboro Republican who is co-chaired the committee stated, “I am deeply troubled by reports of unaccompanied minors coming to Tennessee in the dead of night,” White said. “We have a right to know exactly who is being brought into our state and how long they will be here.”
White contended that legislators have spent the last few years trying to strengthen human trafficking laws, and she noted the committee needs to determine whether the children are subject to becoming victims.
The Tennessee Department of Children’s Services commissioner testified in a separate committee meeting this week that a child staying at the Chattanooga facility told inspectors about a case of abuse there. The facility is under investigation as a result.
In addition, U.S. Sens. Bill Hagerty and Marsha Blackburn and U.S. Rep. Chuck Fleischmann of Chattanooga sent a letter this week to U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra asking about a report of a 16-year-old boy who reportedly went missing from the Tennessee Baptiste Group facility on June 14.
“The allegation of abuse and the missing child individually raise urgent questions that demand immediate answers regarding the steps HHS is taking to ensure the safety and well-being of (unaccompanied alien children) in this Chattanooga facility. More generally, given the large number of UACs being placed in HHS custody in the interior of the United States due to the ongoing border crisis, we request a briefing to discuss your department’s management of UACs in federal custody throughout the United States and efforts to ensure their well-being,” their letter states.
In June 2021, several undocumented children were abused and a staff member was criminally charged “with several serious offenses” at La Casa de Sidney/Baptiste Groupe, where the UACs had been housed in Chattanooga.
The Tennessee General Assembly formed a Joint Study Committee on Refugee Issues to explore the UAC entering Tennessee.
The report was released January 27, 2022. Rep. Dan Howell included this in his opening remarks, “Our governor recently signed a joint letter with the Governor of Iowa, sent to the ranking member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, Senator Charles Grassley. The letter states in part…and I quote “after significant progress to secure the border under the Trump Administration, the Biden Administration’s failed policies have incentivized the largest surge in illegal crossing in 20 years. Both Iowa and Tennessee have faced a series of disturbing incidents involving the transport of unaccompanied children into our state, under the cover of darkness, with no advance notification”.. “These experiences sow seeds of mistrust in our communities, and work to intentionally subvert the will of the people for a secure border and a clear, lawful immigration process.” The letter identified that the late-night flights full of UAC also arrived in Knoxville and Tri-cities.
The report confirms that ORR (the Office of Refuge Resettlement) is the agency that will “assume custody” of unaccompanied undocumented alien children. ORR is a federal sub-agency of HHS (Health and Human Services). No where in this report does it allocate housing responsibilities of UAC to the state foster care system (which is funded through the Children’s Bureau). The children arriving in the U.S. that have been identified by ORR are 68 percent male and 72 percent over the age of 14. They arrived from Guatemala, Honduras, and El Salvador.
Federal records show that ORR and DHS entered into Memorandum Agreements in 2016 and 2018 to develop a method of sharing information and tracking UAC. Failing to turn these children over to ORR undermines the efforts between those two agencies to track children.
But after this scurry of concern, Tennessee took a sharp turn to the left.
In July 2023, a class action lawsuit was filed: B.R. et al, v. Margie Quin, Case No. 3:23-cv-00737. This case alleges that “immigrant children without legal status in DCS’s care have a constitutionally protected interest in applying for SIJS (Special Immigration Juvenile Status). SIJS is a non-discretionary right that provides these children with access to many benefits that they would not have otherwise, including access to federal funds, protection from removal, and a path to citizenship. Far from safeguarding immigrant children’s access to SIJS, DCS has engaged in a pattern and practice of obstructing children’s pathway to SIJS.”
Six months later, Attorney General Skrmetti failed to object to this absurd premise and entered into a Settlement Agreement to (1) ensure that DCS obtains the necessary documentation (including Special Immigration Juvenile Status (SIJS or SIJ status) including predicate orders) for ‘foreign-born’ children in DCS custody, (2) make referrals to Immigration Advocates, (3) make sure that the children are available for all immigration related appointments and court dates, (4) if a UAC does not have an immigration attorney, DCS shall be responsible for taking them to appointments and court dates, and (5) DCS is required to create an internal policy to provide these services and establish an “internal team” DEVOTED to specializing in immigration needs of UAC. DCS was also required to develop a system for “internal data tracking and quality assurance.” Finally, DCS was required to PRIORITIZE older UAC to procure SJIS status prior to their 18th birthday. This was entered with the Court December 1, 2023. The lawsuit was filed by NGO ChildrensRights.org.
DCS created policy 16.1 “International and Immigration Affairs and Special Immigration Juvenile Status” which describes the case workers requirement to report all UAC to the “DCS International, Immigration, and Cultural Affairs Division” to “ensure that all eligible youth apply for SIJS in a timely manner.” (Latest Review date: 10/01/2024)
So, DCS takes custody of the UAC, places the child in a state paid foster home, does NOT report the child to ORR or ICE, takes the child to juvenile court, obtains a juvenile court order that says the child is abandoned, carries the child to an immigration office to obtain a VISA, and then releases the child to someone (whether or not vetted). This process has been witnessed by a whistle blower. Now the UAC will be the recipient of SNAP, Medicaid, and other federal programs. All in secret.
In 2023, a bill was introduced by State Senator Rose (SB 1202) and Representative Dan Howell (HB 808) which created a new “nontraditional child care agency” under the licensing control of DCS. This bill amended TCA Section 37-5-501(b)(15) and describes this as (A) a child care agency that provides residential child care for one or more children that must be transported across state lines to enter or leave the agency’s care and whose transport across state lines is not subject to the Interstate Compact on Juveniles. Part (B) states that this “does not include a person or entity that places children in family boarding homes or foster homes.” This Interstate Compact for the Placement of Children is the safety net for children and allocates the responsibility of child placing agencies to ensure safe transport and safe placement in the receiving state. Under this new ‘nontraditional’ agency, those safeguards are abolished. This bill passed without objection.
It is hard to imagine what this bill could possibly be describing other than the legalization of trafficking children. What kind of “residential child care” is providing services for children that is NOT a “family boarding home” or “foster home?”
A Tennessee resident whistleblower has identified UAC in a foster home and the foster parent was being paid $150 per day which is $4,500 per month (tax free). In addition, DCS is paying for all medical and dental needs of the child. This child was in the foster home for over a year and then returned to unidentified adults that are assumed to also be undocumented.
The Tennessee checkbook revealed the DCS paid more than $26,000 to an NGO called Tennessee Justice for Our Neighbors, Inc. to retain immigration attorneys for UAC. This organization reported more than $1.2 million in revenues in 2024. As you know, there is no way to track the donors and organizations that make payments to a 501(c)(3) such as this.
It is difficult to imagine how the State of Tennessee justifies harboring UAC which is in direct conflict with Tennessee’s stance on rejecting any “sanctuary” policies codified in the 110th General Assembly (2017-2018) HB 2315/SB2332. This law strictly prohibits any “sanctuary policy” by any state or local government agency and recognized that to do so is a violation of 8 U.S.C. Sec. 1374. This bill was co-sponsored by fifty-eight Republican members of the House:
Representatives Reedy, Terry, Sexton, Moody, Rogers, Hill, Goins, Eldridge, Byrd, Matheny, Boyd, Matlock, Dawn White, Weaver, Keisling, Zachary, Van Huss, Carr, Vaughan, Crawford, Hawk, Whitson, Tillis, Kane, Galfee, Marsh, Sexton, Lynn, Johnson, Moon, Timothy Hill, Holt, Casada, Holsclaw, Halford, Harry Brooks, Kevin Brooks, McCormick, Carter, Travis, Gant, Smith, Sherrell, Powers, Lollar, Gravitt, Sparks, Littleton, Hulsey, Coley, Ragan, Doss, Lamberth, Howell, Hicks, Williams, Faison, Kumar, Butt, Forgety, Madam Speaker Harwell, Daniel, Rudd, Alexander, Mark White, Wirgau, Windle
Then in 2025, Tennessee passed HB 322/SB392 which enforced criminal penalties for “human smuggling” and “harboring” persons known to have illegally entered the United States. Human smuggling under this act is defined as transporting five or more minors for commercial advantage or financial gain with the intent to “conceal the individuals” from federal immigration officers. It also includes “encouraging” or “inducing” five or more minors to enter or remain in this state in violation of federal law.
Now in 2025, Senator Grassley reports that the Biden Administration’s handling of UAC raised serious concerns, and reports that 500,000 children crossed the Southern border and entered the UAC program, while cartel trafficking activity surged. Reported April 2, 2025.
President Trump reported in December 2024 that the Biden Administration lost track of 300,000 migrant children. Although the “fact checkers” attacked the President as over stating the problem, DHS (Dept. of Homeland Security) reported that they were unable to contact 291,000 children. This FINAL MANAGEMENT ALERT reports that 448,820 children entered the United States between 2019 and 2023.
In July 2025, the press released the story that the Trump administration was now aware of the JIS “loophole.” “The scale of criminality, gang involvement, and fraud described in this report is more extensive than in earlier public discussions of the Special Immigrant Juvenile (SIJ) program,” Morgan Bailey, a partner at Mayer Brown and a former senior official at the Department of Homeland Security, told Newsweek.
While ICE and the U.S. Marshal’s Office are in Memphis recovering over 100 children, the state government is creating a systemic trafficking operation on tax payer dollars.
It is hard to calculate the cost to taxpayers in the State of Tennessee. The costs of education, healthcare, and now foster care is not only massive, but it is spread among several agencies and will require a professional audit. Commissioner Quin has also asked for one hundred and fifty-three (153) more employees and an increase in her budget by another one hundred million dollars while children sleep in DCS offices.
The harboring of undocumented aliens remains a crime both at the federal and state level. The SJIS was a program created in the 1990s to protect children from trafficking and imminent harm, it was never intended to be a pathway to citizenship for those ignoring our laws in crossing our borders.
Recently DCS was contacted with an open records request to obtain reports on the UAC placed in state foster care and was refused this information. The secrecy of this program is now confirmed.
About the author: Connie Reguli is doctor of law in Tennessee fighting for families against government and court abuses.
