Republicans target Nashville's mayor for his response to immigration arrests

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Congressional Republicans are investigating Nashville Mayor Freddie O'Connell's response to federal immigration arrests during hundreds of traffic stops over several days in May.

Rep. Andy Ogles is leading the charge, pitting the Republican who represents part of the Democratic-leaning city against a progressive mayor who has criticized immigration officials after they arrested nearly 200 people in the greater Nashville area.

The dayslong presence of Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents sent chills through well-known Nashville immigrant neighborhoods. Many Republicans, meanwhile, applauded ICE's enforcement focus in the city.

Republicans have criticized Nashville officials for publicly documenting interactions between local authorities and federal immigration agents on an official city government website. Some of the entries included authorities' names before city officials removed them. They have also blasted O'Connell for promoting a fundraiser for families affected by the ICE activity.

O'Connell has said the arrests caused long-lasting trauma for families and were led by people who don't share Nashville's values of safety and community.

Here is a look at the ICE activity and its fallout.

The arrests

ICE has said that it arrested 196 people alongside the Tennessee Highway Patrol during a weeklong effort in and around Nashville. ICE said 95 had criminal convictions, were facing criminal charges or both, but didn’t provide a more detailed breakdown, including the type of crimes. It said about 30 had entered the country after previously being deported, some of whom are included in the 95.

The Highway Patrol said it made more than 580 traffic stops in the joint operation with ICE. ICE highlighted seven cases, including two gang members, one of whom was wanted in an El Salvador killing, and people with convictions such as drug offenses, rape or assault.

Lisa Sherman Luna of the Tennessee Immigrant and Refugee Rights Coalition criticized the effort as “at a scale we've never seen before.” She said officers were arresting some people who were going home to their children or heading to work.

The mayor's response

Early into ICE's operation in Nashville, the mayor held a news conference to assure that Nashville's police force was not involved in the immigration crackdown.

He said the immigration enforcement approach “is not our understanding of what a Nashville for all of us looks like.”

At the news conference, the Community Foundation of Middle Tennessee also announced the fundraising effort to provide child care, transportation, housing aid, food and more for families impacted by the ICE activity.

O'Connell's administration has sent letters asking Tennessee Highway Patrol and ICE to identify those arrested and their charges. He told the Nashville Rotary Club this week he still hasn't received that information.

O’Connell is facing particular scrutiny because of a policy requiring city agencies to report communications with federal immigration authorities to the mayor’s office. Nashville has had similar orders under two prior mayors, and O’Connell added quicker reporting deadlines last month. He said the goal is transparency.

Republicans' investigation into O'Connell

Congressman Ogles declared that House committees would be investigating O'Connell during a Memorial Day news conference at Tennessee's Capitol in Nashville — a venue that raised eyebrows because it's closed to the public on the holiday. Noise from protesters carried from outside the building.

A subsequent letter signed by Ogles and three other House committee and subcommittee chairmen requests documents and communications about O'Connell's executive order and the ICE enforcement efforts. Ogles and others have also cried foul that the names of some immigration officials in the Nashville operation were made public. The agents’ names were removed, with O'Connell saying it wasn’t the intent of the executive order to release them.

O’Connell has said Nashville isn’t trying to obstruct federal or state laws, and has no reason to be concerned about the congressional investigation.

Ogles first won his seat in 2022 after Republicans redistricted Nashville to flip a Democratic congressional district.

Trump’s border czar, Tom Homan, told Fox News last week that agents will “flood the zone” in Nashville due to O’Connell’s response.

Republican Sen. Marsha Blackburn is requesting that the U.S. Department of Justice investigate O'Connell.

Last week, the Trump administration listed Nashville among its so-called sanctuary jurisdictions, before the list was removed. O'Connell said he's “puzzled” by the city's inclusion and that Nashville, by definition, is not a sanctuary city.

Laws toughened over so-called sanctuary policies

In 2019, sanctuary cities became illegal in Tennessee, threatening noncomplying governments with the loss of state economic development money. Tennessee economic development officials say they aren't aware of any warnings, denials or withholding of state money under that law to date.

Early this year, lawmakers and Republican Gov. Bill Lee approved legislation to aid the Trump administration with immigration enforcement. It features a potential Class E felony against any local elected official voting for or adopting a so-called sanctuary policy. This could include voting in favor of local government restrictions that impede ICE efforts to detain migrants in the U.S. without permission.

Critics believe the criminal penalty — effective July 1 — could be unconstitutional due to state and federal protections afforded lawmakers at various levels of government.

The law also created a new state immigration division, but shielded its records from public disclosure.