Day: June 6, 2025

Nashville Mayor Faces Pressure to Repeal Immigration Order as Police Union Blasts Naming of Federal Officials

Tom Pappert
Cameron Sexton

Tennessee House Speaker Cameron Sexton (R-Crossville) on Thursday called for Nashville Mayor Freddie O’Connell to rescind the executive order, which he recently modified, mandating Metro Nashville employees report all contacts with federal immigration officials to the O’Connell and the Office of New Americans. 

“I’m calling on Mayor O’Connell to rescind executive order 30,” wrote Sexton in a statement posted to X. “This order has jeopardized the safety of federal and state agents to the extent that individuals are harassing and interfering in the lawful duty of these agents.”

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DHS Confirms Suspect Behind Alleged Hit-and-Run of Nashville Pedestrian Is ‘Illegal Alien from Venezuela’

Tom Pappert
Zach Carach

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security confirmed Thursday that the individual allegedly shown in a video posted to social media by U.S. Representative Andy Ogles, committing the May 18 hit-and-run against a pedestrian in Nashville, is an illegal immigrant from Venezuela.

A Thursday press release by DHS announced Tony Gebian Lopez Infante, the suspect who remains at large after being accused of striking 21-year-old Zach Carach with his vehicle, “is an illegal alien from Venezuela.”

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Nashville Democrat Suggests Troopers Pulled over Illegal Immigrants ‘Because of Their Brown Skin,’ Demands Race Statistics

Tom Pappert
ICE arrest

State Representative John Ray Clemmons (D-Nashville) on Thursday suggested the nearly 200 illegal immigrants detained during the recent joint enforcement operation by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Tennessee Highway Patrol (THP), may have only been caught because law enforcement pulled them over “because of their brown skin.”

The Nashville Democrat told WSMV 4 that he contacted state officials last month to ask about the operation, specifically seeking the identity, race, and ethnicity of each individual stopped, calling it “a pretty simple question” in remarks to the outlet. 

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House Passes Bill Removing Noncitizen Eligibility for Federal Business Loans

The Center Square
meeting

The U.S. House has passed legislation barring all noncitizens, except permanent residents from acquiring Small Business Administration loans.

The American Entrepreneurs First Act of 2025, which passed in a 217-190 vote Friday, would require the SBA to verify the citizenship status and age of every applicant, codifying reforms recently implemented by the agency.

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DOJ Returns Kilmar Abrego Garcia to United States to Face Charges for Alleged Nine-Year Career in Illegal Alien Smuggling

Tom Pappert
Kilmar Abrego Garcia

The U.S. Department of Justice on Friday announced that Kilmar Abrego Garcia was returned to the United States from El Salvador to face charges in response to a grand jury indictment that accuses him of completing more than 100 trips while smuggling illegal immigrants throughout the country. 

U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi announced the charges in an afternoon press conference, confirming the grand jury returned its indictment on May 21, just weeks after The Tennessee Star was the first to report that Abrego Garcia was suspected of human trafficking by the Tennessee Highway Patrol (THP) in November 2022, and that his release was ordered by the “Biden-era FBI.”

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Second Amendment Advocates Ask SCOTUS to End Nearly 100-Year-Old Gun Restriction

Daily Caller News Foundation
rifle

A new petition filed with the Supreme Court on Friday asks the justices to find a nearly 100-year-old firearm regulation unconstitutional.

Under the National Firearms Act of 1934 (NFA), rifles with a barrel shorter than 16 inches face tax and registration requirements that can cost violators up to 10 years in prison or a fine of up to $250,00.

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Kilmar Abrego Garcia to Reportedly Face Criminal Charges Following Return to United States

Tom Pappert
Kilmar Abrego Garcia

A Friday report claimed that Kilmar Abrego Garcia, the citizen of El Salvador deported in March by the Trump administration, is being returned to the United States in order to face criminal charges from the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) for transporting illegal immigrants throughout the interior of the country.

Abrego Garcia became the subject of national controversy after a government lawyer claimed that he was mistakenly deported in violation of a 2019 final deportation order that included a withholding of removal order for one of two countries, either El Salvador or Guatemala, leading the U.S. Supreme Court to require the Trump administration “facilitate” his return to the United States.

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ICE Officers, Deported Immigrants Stuck in Shipping Container on Naval Base in East Africa

Just the News
ICE agents

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers and deported immigrants are stuck in a shipping container on a U.S. naval base in Djibouti amid a court battle over the deportation, according to Trump administration officials.

The 13 officers and eight detainees are sick as they experience 100-degree outdoor temperatures, exposure to malaria, nearby burn pits, and potential attacks from terrorists in Yemen, according to a court filing by Melissa Harper, a top official in the ICE division responsible for deportations.

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FBI ‘Catholic Memo’ May Prove Latest Example of Biden Officials Misleading, Obstructing Congress

Just the News

Biden-era officials could face increasing legal pressure over misrepresentations to Congress about administration policy and where it overlapped with President Biden’s health as Republicans clamor for accountability.

Decisions by Biden Administration officials to hide key evidence, stubbornly delay responses to subpoenaed records, or allegedly cover up President Biden’s declining mental and physical health are facing new scrutiny from congressional Republicans now dealing with a cooperative executive branch. 

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Citibank Reverses Course, Drops Anti-Second Amendment Policy

The Center Square
Citibank

by Bethany Blankley   Citibank this week dropped a policy it implemented in 2018 restricting the Second Amendment rights of clients. While claiming it “has always been fully committed to treating all current and potential clients fairly,” it said concerns were raised “regarding ‘fair access’ to banking services.” Six years later, under a second Trump administration, it’s now changing its policy to comply with “regulatory developments, recent Executive Orders and federal legislation that impact this area,” it announced. This includes updating its employee Code of Conduct and customer-facing Global Financial Access Policy “to clearly state that we do not discriminate on the basis of political affiliation in the same way we are clear that we do not discriminate on the basis of other traits such as race and religion. This will codify what we’ve long practiced, and we will continue to conduct trainings to ensure compliance.” It also said it will “no longer have a specific policy as it relates to firearms. Our U.S. Commercial Firearms Policy was implemented in 2018 and pertained to sale of firearms by our retail clients and partners. The policy was intended to promote the adoption of best sales practices as prudent risk management and…

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Majority of Small Business Owners Are Optimistic About Trump Helping Their Businesses, Survey Says

Daily Caller News Foundation
small business owner

The majority of U.S. small business owners are optimistic that President Donald Trump and his administration will help out businesses like theirs, according to a May poll from the Job Creators Network Foundation (JCNF) obtained exclusively by the Daily Caller News Foundation.

The survey, first shared with the DCNF, found that the majority of respondents, 58%, said they felt “optimistic” that the president and his administration will help small businesses, while 41% said they felt “pessimistic” and 1% responded they were “unsure,” according to the poll. Moreover, the majority of small business owners, 58%, said they want the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA) of 2017 to be extended, versus only 18% who said they do not, according to the survey.

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James Robert Webb Releases ‘Weekend Outlaw’

Bethany Bowman
James Robert Webb

As reported in my Music Spotlight column in 2020, James Robert Webb was a gifted musician before he became an acclaimed radiologist. However, like many of us with dual careers, he didn’t want to choose one over the other; instead, he focused on both. Since he earnestly pursued his music career as a country music singer-songwriter in 2016, Webb has released three country albums, an exquisite piano instrumental album called Telescope, and multiple EPs and singles.

His 2020 self-titled album featured the songs “Something Out of Nothing” and “Stealing Home,” which hit #1 on the Texas Regional Radio Report chart. In 2022, he was named the Country Breakout Awards’ Independent Artist of the Year (an honor bestowed by Nashville’s Music Row Magazine), and a year later, he was a 2023 New Faces nominee at the Texas Regional Radio Report Music Awards. 

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More Questions Mount Over Penny Schwinn’s Nomination as Deputy Secretary of Education After Confirmation Hearing

Kaitlin Housler
Tom Pappert

Tom Pappert, lead reporter at The Tennessee Star, said more questions have mounted as to why President Donald Trump chose Penny Schwinn to be his administration’s Deputy Secretary of Education after her testimony in front of U.S. senators this week.

On Thursday, Schwinn testified in front of the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions where she painted a misleadingly positive picture of her tenure as the former Tennessee Education Commissioner.

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Tennessee Deputy Governor to Step Away

Zachery Schmidt
Butch Eley

Governor Bill Lee announced on Friday that Butch Eley, who is the state’s deputy governor and transportation commissioner, will leave his role after the Fiscal Year 2025’s third quarter ends.

Eley has been a part of the governor’s cabinet for almost seven years. He said he was not retiring, but stepping away to spend more time with his family.

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Governor Katie Hobbs Vetoes Bill to Limit Chinese Ownership of Land Near Military Bases, Bill Sponsor Slams Her ‘Self-serving, Hyper-partisan Track Record’

Rachel Alexander
Arizona Gov. Katie Hobbs

Democratic Governor Katie Hobbs continues her record number of vetoes, vetoing SB 1109, which would have prohibited China from buying up land next to military bases and other strategic assets. Sponsored by Senate Majority Leader Janae Shamp (R-Surprise), the bill stated that China “may not purchase, own, acquire by grant or devise or have a substantial interest in real property in this state.”

In a letter to the Arizona Legislature, Hobbs claimed the bill was “ineffective at counter-espionage” and did not directly protect military assets. “Additionally, it lacks clear implementation criteria and opens the door to arbitrary enforcement,” she said. 

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Commentary: Behind the Supreme Court’s Surprising Conservative Consensus

The Daily Signal
Supreme Court of the United States

The Supreme Court handed down three blockbuster rulings Thursday focused on hot-button cultural issues, and all three of them went in the conservative direction.

That’s not exactly a surprise—the court has a conservative majority, after all. The first real surprise was that the rulings were unanimous. The second real surprise? Each of the court’s three liberal justices wrote one of the opinions.

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D-Day: The Bold Invasion That Turned the Tide Against Hitler’s Germany

Star News Network Staff
Tennessee Star

Eighty years ago on June 6, 1944 the United States joined with Great Britain, the free French forces, and Canada to mount a bold invasion of the beachhead in Normandy, France as a last-ditch effort to gain a foothold in Europe against the conquering forces of Hitler’s Germany.

The 160,000-soldier seaborne operation would mark a massive pivot in the Allies’ defense against the Nazis and the bloodthirsty Axis.

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