Anita Wadhwani
Senior ReporterAnita Wadhwani is a senior reporter for the Tennessee Lookout. The Tennessee AP Broadcasters and Media (TAPME) named her Journalist of the Year in 2019 as well as giving her the Malcolm Law Award for Investigative Journalism. Wadhwani is formerly an investigative reporter with The Tennessean who focused on the impact of public policies on the people and places across Tennessee. She is a graduate of Columbia University in New York and the University of California at Berkeley School of Journalism. Wadhwani lives in Nashville with her partner and two children.
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The families of about 400 immigrant children without permanent legal status were notified they will be reported to a state immigration enforcement office if they continue care through the Children’s Special Services program -
Seeking class action status, the federal suit accuses Tennessee lawmakers of violating the Constitution’s Supremacy clause, arguing only the federal government can enforce immigration law -
The bill would require reporting immigrants without legal status who apply for public benefits to the state’s Centralized Immigration Enforcement Bureau or face loss of funding; government employees could face criminal charges for not reporting -
The federal Summer EBT program has bipartisan support; the $7 million in funding included in the state budget covers administrative costs to the state -
Tennessee leaders have publicly backed ICE activity nationwide, but balked, in some instances, closer to home -
The legislation requires local government agencies that distribute benefits to check immigration status and report unqualified immigrants to the state’s new immigration office; it includes criminal penalties for public employees who fail to comply -
Thousands of legal immigrants will lose access to TennCare beginning in October as a result of new Trump administration policy, while Tennessee officials separately consider barring pregnant women without legal immigration status from accessing publicly-funded prenatal care. -
Tennessee construction companies are feeling the impact of the Trump administration immigration crackdown as workers failed to show up at job sites due to fears of enforcement activity, according to a survey by the Associated General Contractors of America. -
Tennessee’s infant mortality rate has dipped since 2019 but remains significantly and persistently higher than the national average, a new report published by the state’s health department found. -
An audit by the Tennessee Comptroller outlines new and persistent failures in caring for abused and neglected children taken into custody by the Department of Children’s Services.
