Nashville Mayor Slams ICE Over Conducting More Than 100 Arrests in City Traffic Stops: 'A Violation of Due Process'

Nashville Mayor Freddie O'Connell has condemned a recent immigration enforcement operation that led to the detention of at least 103 individuals during traffic stops across the city, calling the effort a "violation of due process." He also accused federal authorities of lacking transparency and signing an executive order requiring city agencies to track and report interactions with federal immigration authorities.

Metro Council members have also proposed new policies to support the local immigrant community, including the display of immigrants' legal rights in government buildings and a potential $10 million reallocation from the police budget to fund legal aid services.

The enforcement action, carried out by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) in collaboration with the Tennessee Highway Patrol (THP), began over a week ago and involved at least 588 traffic stops in and around Nashville, as reported by The Miami Herald.

ICE characterized the arrests as part of a "public safety operation," claiming some detainees are affiliated with transnational gangs or have prior criminal histories. When signing the executive order, O'Connell expressed frustration at how federal authorities proceeded:

"I want to be clear. We did not request this approach to safety, we do not support it. It's important to us to get this right and it's very frustrating to see a failure in the process"

O'Connell went on to emphasize that Metro Nashville Police officials were not involved in the operation and only became aware of it after it had already begun. Metro Legal Director Wally Dietz reiterated the city's limited authority in the matter:

"We are powerless, we have absolutely no authority to instruct ICE not to carry out their enforcement actions. We have no authority to tell THP they cannot cooperate with ICE"

According to ICE and THP, arrests included individuals with alleged ties to MS-13 and Venezuela's Tren de Aragua gang, as well as people wanted for serious offenses, including an individual convicted as a child sex predator and another wanted for aggravated murder in El Salvador. It remains unclear where some of these convictions occurred, as The Herald explains.

City leaders remain concerned about the operation's impact on public trust and community safety."I want to ensure that we're empowering our communities to shape their own vision of safety," said councilmember Terry Vo to Axios. "I think a community safety plan includes all the various communities that are attacked, and makes sure we are centering their fears and concerns in how we address community safety."