Balancing Law and Compassion: What Every Tennessean Should Know About Immigration Today

Speaker Friday, June 6, 2025

Immigration enforcement is no longer a distant policy discussion—it is unfolding in our neighborhoods, schools, and workplaces. While some applaud the efforts as necessary for restoring order, others raise concerns about due process and fear-based tactics. In this nuanced moment, Allen King from the Tennessee Immigrant and Refugee Rights Coalition (TIRRC) offers a grounded, legal perspective on how Tennessee can respond with both clarity and compassion. How do we ensure our policies align with our principles? And can we foster security and dignity at the same time?

Allen King is the Legal Services Director at TIRRC, where he leads a team dedicated to supporting immigrants with naturalization, DACA, and green card applications. A graduate of Vanderbilt Law School, Mr. King has spent his legal career focused on humanitarian forms of immigration relief, including asylum, Special Immigrant Juvenile Status, and U Visas. In 2025, his work has centered on developing statewide systems to monitor and respond to immigration enforcement and on creating legal education tools to help immigrant communities understand and exercise their rights.

Join the Green Hills Rotary Club on Friday, June 6, 2025, at 7:15 a.m. at the Boy Scout Service Center on Hillsboro Road for an important conversation on law, rights, and community in a time of polarization. With a commitment to Rotary’s Four-Way Test—Is it the truth, is it fair to all concerned, will it build good will and better relationships, will it be beneficial to all concerned—this presentation invites respectful reflection on one of the most pressing and complex topics of our time.

For more information about the TIRRC click here

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