Tennessee will now out non-citizens with special mark on driver’s licenses and IDs

New licenses carry a visible marker

Tennessee started issuing a new kind of driver’s license on Jan. 1, 2026.

Lawful permanent residents who renew or reinstate their license and can’t prove U.S. citizenship now get a temporary version with a visible marker on the card.

If you can show proof of citizenship, you keep the standard license.

The requirement is part of SB 6002, also known as Public Chapter 1, a broader immigration enforcement law that Gov. Bill Lee signed last year.

Lawmakers passed the bill in early 2025

Gov. Lee called a special legislative session in January 2025 focused on immigration enforcement, school choice, and Hurricane Helene relief.

SB 6002 passed the Senate 26-7 and the House 72-22, mostly along party lines. Lee signed it on Feb. 12, 2025. The driver’s license provisions didn’t kick in until Jan. 1, 2026, giving the state nearly a year to prepare.

The bill was one of several immigration measures to come out of that session.

The marker is likely a small “X”

House Majority Leader William Lamberth said the marker would probably be a small “X” on the card, similar to codes already used for things like corrective lenses.

The Tennessee Department of Safety hasn’t released the exact design. Standard licenses for U.S. citizens stay the same.

The temporary versions are still valid for driving, but they carry less authority than a standard license, which matters at places like polling stations.

Marked licenses can’t be used to vote

Here’s the big change at the polls: temporary non-citizen licenses don’t count as voter ID. Only standard driver’s licenses and photo IDs qualify.

Supporters say this closes a gap where a non-citizen could potentially show a Tennessee license to vote.

But non-citizens were already barred from voting in federal, state, and most local elections before this bill passed. The new rule adds another layer to a system that already blocked non-citizen voting.

Republicans say it protects elections

Republican lawmakers pitched the law as a way to make voter eligibility clear at a glance.

Tennessee already required government-issued photo ID to vote, and the Heritage Foundation has ranked the state first in the nation for election integrity.

Supporters argue the visual marker removes any guesswork for poll workers. If the license has the marker, it’s not valid voter ID. If it doesn’t, the voter is cleared. Simple as that, backers say.

Critics warn it could stigmatize residents

Not everyone sees it that way. Immigration attorney Renata Castro said the marked documents could brand legal residents and lead to more harassment.

The Tennessee Immigrant and Refugee Rights Coalition called the law harmful and overreaching. Emily Stotts of Tennessee Justice for Our Neighbors warned it could confuse employers and law enforcement.

The Migration Policy Institute has noted that election audits consistently show non-citizen voting is extremely rare across the country.

The law also created an immigration division

The license marker is just one piece of SB 6002. The law also created a Centralized Immigration Enforcement Division inside the Department of Safety.

The governor appoints a Chief Immigration Enforcement Officer to lead it, and the division coordinates state and local cooperation with federal immigration agencies.

On top of that, the law set up a grant program to encourage local law enforcement to join the federal 287(g) program, which lets local officers help enforce immigration law.

A court struck down the sanctuary-vote felony

One part of SB 6002 already fell apart in court. The law made it a felony for local officials to vote in favor of sanctuary city policies.

The ACLU of Tennessee sued in June 2025 on behalf of seven Nashville Metro Council members. Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti told legislators he couldn’t defend the provision.

On Feb. 26, 2026, a Nashville chancellor approved a settlement declaring it unconstitutional. Sanctuary policies themselves remain banned under a separate 2019 law.

Out-of-state non-citizen licenses are banned too

Tennessee didn’t stop with its own licenses. A separate bill, HB 749, signed by Lee in April 2025, made it illegal to drive in Tennessee using an out-of-state license issued only to undocumented immigrants.

That’s a Class B misdemeanor. According to the National Conference of State Legislatures, 19 states and Washington, D.C., allow undocumented immigrants to get some form of driving privilege.

Florida and Wyoming have passed similar laws rejecting those out-of-state licenses.

REAL ID adds another wrinkle

REAL ID enforcement kicked in at airports and federal buildings on May 7, 2025.

Only licenses with the REAL ID star are accepted for boarding flights and entering federal facilities. Tennessee’s temporary non-citizen licenses don’t meet that standard.

So lawful permanent residents who need to fly or enter a federal building may need a passport or another approved document.

That’s an extra step the standard license doesn’t require, and it’s something affected residents should plan for.

What affected residents need to know

The law only applies when a lawful permanent resident renews or reinstates a license on or after Jan. 1, 2026.

If your current license hasn’t expired, it stays valid until it does. Anyone who becomes a U.S. citizen can show proof at any time and get a standard license.

One more thing to watch: the immigration enforcement division and the grant program are set to expire on Jan. 20, 2029, unless state lawmakers vote to keep them going.

The law keeps changing shape

SB 6002 rolled out in stages. Some provisions took effect right away, others on July 1, 2025, and the license rules on Jan. 1, 2026.

The sanctuary-vote felony lasted less than a year before a court struck it down. State lawmakers have introduced a bill to formally remove that language from the statute.

No one has filed a legal challenge against the license marker itself as of early March 2026. The law remains at the center of the national debate over state-level immigration enforcement.

This article was created with AI assistance and human editing.

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