From [HERE] Republican lawmakers filed three bills Wednesday that they said will fight illegal immigration, but the proposals were quickly criticized by civil rights and immigration groups that said the measures will "create a police state."

State Rep. Joe Carr, R-Lascassas, and three GOP senators introduced bills that would require employers to check the citizenship status of new hires, direct state agencies to verify citizenship status when granting government benefits, and authorize state and local law enforcement to check the immigration status of the people they stop.

The measures were selected by a task force of lawmakers to form the core of the legislature's immigration package for the session.

But the Tennessee Immigrant and Refugee Rights Coalition and the Tennessee chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union denounced the bills, which they said would essentially turn every government official in the state into an immigration agent.

"It's kind of like a police state where you have state employees checking the status of every person," said David Morales, communications coordinator for TIRRC. "That should not be in the hands of just any state employee."

The bills, all of which are sponsored by Carr in the House and a Middle Tennessee Republican in the Senate, each create new verification requirements.

The Tennessee Lawful Employment Act, which is co-sponsored by Shelbyville Sen. Jim Tracy, would require all public and private employers to run the names and Social Security numbers of all people they hire after Oct. 1 through the federal government's E-Verify system.

'A Tennessee problem'

Meanwhile, the Eligibility Verification for Entitlements Act, co-sponsored by Franklin Sen. Jack Johnson, would place a similar requirement on state agencies and other groups that administer government benefits. Organizations that are found to have helped illegal immigrants conceal their status to obtain benefits could be punished.

Finally, the Lawful Immigration Enforcement Act, co-sponsored by Murfreesboro Sen. Bill Ketron, would direct state and local police to determine the citizenship status of any person they stop. The bill is similar to legislation passed last year in Arizona that has been tied up in a court challenge and widely criticized by civil rights groups.

"By inviting racial profiling, the bill diverts precious security resources toward false threats, creating distrust of law enforcement and jeopardizing public safety," Hedy Weinberg, executive director of the ACLU of Tennessee, said in a statement.

Supporters said the bill would help reduce the illegal immigrant population.

"The problem is a Tennessee problem," Carr said. "The federal government for years and years — not just with this administration but with the administrations before this — has failed to enforce the law."

But Morales said the bills would distract lawmakers from more important issues.

"The economy and creating jobs are Tennesseans' top priorities," he said, citing the results of a recent poll by Vanderbilt University. "Only 3 percent think immigration is a top priority. I don't think anything with these statutes is going to help create jobs or benefit jobs in any way."