Nashville Mayor Freddie O'Connell: Recent ICE arrests caused 'deep community harm'

Nashville Mayor Freddie O'Connell says the city is working to determine exactly how many people were swept up as part of a recent Immigration and Customs Enforcement operation conducted in Nashville.

During a news conference on May 5, O'Connell shared more details about his office's response to what the Tennessee Department of Homeland Security called a "public safety operation" in southern Nashville over the weekend. During that operation, the Tennessee Highway Patrol and ICE partnered to make 150 traffic stops , detaining an unknown number of people.

A day later, O'Connell told reporters that the city's taking further steps to find out more. But when it comes to the question of whether there's anything Nashville can do to prevent similar ICE sweeps in the future, it appears that city officials' hands may be tied.

"This is a tough one, because what we saw over the weekend was actions that happened on state routes with no coordination with local officials," O'Connell said. "So yes, I continue to be concerned about the mechanism for these actions, and I think what they've demonstrated is that they can occur at times and locations of their choosing without our involvement."

Metro Director of Law Wally Dietz said he's sent a letter to the Tennessee Highway Patrol asking the agency to identify all of the individuals arrested over the weekend and to provide a list of their pending charges. Dietz said he also planned to send a letter to ICE asking for the same information by the end of the day on May 5.

O'Connell has asserted more than once the Metro Nashville Police Department was not involved in the ICE operation, though some protesters who demonstrated during the operation contend that there were MNPD officers on site. He said events like what happened over the weekend are completely federally driven.

O'Connell also said he'd spoken "very briefly" with Gov. Bill Lee about the arrests, though he didn't go into much detail about what Lee said. O'Connell said from his end, he talked about the broader context of local and state relationships and flagged that the arrests seemed to mark a "significant" moment of rising tension.

At times, that tension was reflected in O'Connell's remarks. He called the arrests a "really tough moment" for the city, and expressed that he was "heartbroken" on behalf of any families who were affected.

"The trauma inflicted on families is long-lasting, and I'm doing everything in my power consistent with applicable law to protect anyone who calls Nashville home," O'Connell said. "What's clear today is that people who do not share our values of safety and community have the authority to cause deep community harm."

Community Foundation launches fund to support immigrants

At the news conference, O'Connell also announced the Community Foundation of Middle Tennessee's new "Belonging Fund," which launched the same afternoon at cfmt.org/belonging . Hal Cato, the CEO of the Community Foundation, said the new fund is a partnership with nonprofits including Tennessee Justice for Our Neighbors, Conexión Américas and the Tennessee Immigrant and Refugee Rights Coalition.

"We want to make sure that the immigrant community in this town knows that we have their back, and the fund will raise dollars that will support the needs of our immigrant community — especially those that have been affected by the ICE raids yesterday," Cato said.

Those funds could go toward addressing child care and transportation costs, housing assistance and food insecurity. But crucially, O'Connell clarified, the fund won't be intended to support immigration legal services.

O'Connell said it's not yet certain whether the city itself will be able to donate to the new Community Foundation fund.

State representatives, city council members sign joint inquiry

In a letter provided to The Tennessean on May 5, two state representatives and two Metro Nashville Council members sent an official inquiry addressed to Gov. Lee, Commissioner Jeff Long of the Department of Safety and Homeland Security and Colonel Matt Perry of the Tennessee Highway Patrol regarding the rash of immigration arrests, calling them "racially targeted stops."

The inquiry was signed by Rep. Justin Jones, D-Nashville, Rep. Shaundelle Brooks, D-Nashville, Metro Nashville Council member Zulfat Suara and Council member Terry Vo, who also serves as the Immigrant Caucus chair.

"Over 150 stops were made along high-traffic commuter corridors specifically targeting working-class immigrant neighborhoods," the statement read. "This operation has had a chilling effect on immigrant communities in Nashville and has created a hostile environment for our most vulnerable neighbors commuting to work and navigating everyday life."

The arrests, according to the statement, "violate the protections in the 4th, 5th, and 14thamendments."

"Weaponizing the THP to assist ICE, especially as reports continue to emerge about the brazenly unconstitutional methods being used to detain immigrants and deny them due process, is unconscionable," the inquiry stated. "Yet, the actions deployed this weekend in our community mirror the same tactics of cruelty and fear we see being amplified by federal officials."

The inquiry makes six demands:

• A detailed breakdown of who was detained, accompanied by a demographic breakdown of the detainees.

• Description of the "reasonable grounds" and "assumed basis" of each stop in the Antioch area surrounding Nolensville Pike and Harding Place, as well as any reasoning for the location choice.

• A explanation of any "pretextual basis" for detainment and how detainees violated the law.

• A list of state and local agencies that participated in the operation.

• A list of facility names, locations and operators that anyone detained may have been taken to, as well as clarification as to why detainees could not be held within Middle Tennessee and whether a private vendor operating under federal contract was used to move the detainees.

• A confirmation of whether those detained were allowed to speak with an attorney or consult with legal counsel, or were read their Miranda rights.

In addition, the signatories demanded that they be provided with arrest records of everyone detained "in accordance with our oversight authority as duly elected lawmakers representing districts in Nashville and Davidson County," by no later than May 12.

Nashville Council Immigrant Caucus: Fear, confusion for immigrant community

Not long after O'Connell's news conference, the Metro Nashville Council's Immigrant Caucus held one of its own.

The caucus includes members like District 30 Council Member Sandra Sepulveda, who represents a portion of the area where ICE operations were underway over the weekend.

"There are still a lot of questions that have gone unanswered," Sepulveda said. "Representing the district where a lot of these Nashvillians were picked up is very difficult, at this moment."

The caucus announced a special-called meeting of the council's public health and safety committee at 4 p.m. May 7, when council members plan to seek more information about what role, if any, local law enforcement officials had in the ICE arrests.

Vo, the Immigrant Caucus chair, said the arrests have already eroded trust between community members and law enforcement, and she called on the city to recommit to policies that protect immigrants in Nashville.

"We have community members who are scared to drive to and from work, to go to school or leave their home," Vo said. "They are fearing racial profiling while driving. The effective 'black-bagging' of our community members has created widespread fear and confusion in our immigrant communities."

Austin Hornbostel is the Metro reporter for The Tennessean. Have a question about local government you want an answer to? Reach him at  ahornbostel@tennessean.com .

Get Davidson County news delivered to your inbox every Wednesday.

This story was updated to add a video.

This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Nashville mayor: Recent ICE arrests caused 'deep community harm'