Metro Nashville Council Condemns ICE Raids, Contemplates Early Warning System for Illegal Immigrants

Members of the Metro Nashville Council on Wednesday condemned the joint immigration enforcement operation by Tennessee Highway Patrol (THP) and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), which have reportedly resulted in more than 80 arrests, and suggested the city should develop protocols to offer illegal immigrants advanced warning of future operations.

The condemnation occurred in a Wednesday meeting of the Metro Public Health and Safety Committee, when Nashville Director of Law Wally Dietz (pictured above) explained that Metro Nashville Police Department (MNPD) had no advanced knowledge of the traffic stops and arrests made starting on May 3 until the following day.

Calling the immigration enforcement “heartbreaking and objectionable on so many levels,” Dietz confirmed his investigation began on Sunday, and that he determined the arrests “caught Metro by surprise.”

According to Dietz, an employee of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) Federal Protective Service contacted the dispatch center for MNPD on May 1 to request additional patrols for an ICE facility on May 4 at 10 a.m. .

Following protocol, Dietz said the police dispatcher inserted the request into computer software which holds a series of messages to be distributed to MNPD at specific times. According to Dietz, the dispatcher was the only person aware of the request until the software sent the request to MNPD, at which time officers visited the facility to learn more about the request.

The clarification of how MNPD was informed of the ICE and THP activity led to Council Member at Large Zulfat Suara (pictured here) to condemn the city’s failure to flag the May 1 call as a request that should not be met by city police, or to warn illegal immigrants of the forthcoming action.

Metro Council Member at Large Zulfat Suara

“The fact was somebody knew May 1,” said Suara. “Nobody mentioned May 1, until this afternoon, I believed nobody knew anything until the morning of, and that was a lie. That is how people do not trust the government.”

Suara added, “I always felt personally that we cannot on the federal government. We know the state government does not have our back. My hope has always been Metro government, and that government disappointed me today,” before urging Nashvilleto “do better” and “be intentional” about how it deals with federal agencies under the Trump administration.

She then asked Metro Emergency Communications Director Stephen Martini to confirm that new protocols would be created to flag such requests by federal officials in the future.

“Certainly, hindsight being 20/20, we are having a lot of conversations now with the mayor’s office, and with Legal, to determine what sort of notifications we can put in place,” said Martini.

He added that the department already created notifications for specific keywords.

U.S. Representative Andy Ogles (R-TN-05) appeared to condemn the idea during a recent appearance on Fox 17, adding in a post to the social media platform X that he would “use every tool” available to punish local officials for “harboring illegal aliens” in Nashville.

“If I find out that local officials are harboring illegal aliens—people whose very first act on American soil was to break the law—I will use every tool at my disposal in Congress to investigate, expose, and punish them for aiding and abetting gangs, traffickers, and criminals,” wrote Ogles.

“This is a betrayal of middle Tennesseans, and it will not go unanswered.”

Similarly, the Tennessee House Republican Caucus offered its support for the arrests on Tuesday, stating that such law enforcement operations will “demagnetize” Tennessee as a destination for illegal immigrants.

Watch the full Metro Council meeting:

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Tom Pappert is the lead reporter for The Tennessee Star, and also reports for The Pennsylvania Daily Star and The Arizona Sun Times. Follow Tom on X/Twitter. Email tips to [email protected].