Nashville Mayor Freddie O’Connell, facing questions over his handling of illegal immigration, thrust an advisory council of local liberal activists into a heated clash with federal and state officials. The move is drawing scrutiny from a Republican-controlled Congress, the Trump Justice Department, and Border Czar Tom Homan over immigration enforcement policies.
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An audit of Tennessee Immigrant and Refugee Rights Coalition (TIRRC) — one of the key progressive players opposing President Trump’s immigration enforcement efforts in Middle Tennessee — found “material weaknesses” and “significant deficiencies” in its accounting procedures.”
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Recent statements from Nashville officials seem to run perilously close to violating state law. From Mayor Freddie O’Connell’s carefully crafted statements — to Police Chief John Drake’s declaration that the Metro Nashville officers “do NOT work with ICE” — to an admission from State Representative Aftyn Behn (D-Nashville) that she physically worked to “distract and delay” the immigration enforcement activities of ICE; these actions, statements and policies have raised eyebrows AND questions.
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President Trump’s Immigration Czar Tom Homan has repeatedly warned against interfering with ICE attempts to arrest those in this country illegally. That is exactly what State Representative Aftyn Behn (D-Nashville) appeared to be doing over the weekend as she, by her own admission on Instagram, worked to “delay and distract” ICE officers from carrying out illegal immigration enforcement. “We’re stalling them,” she said while also referring to ICE officers as “…little vampires who only come out at night.” The bizarre video in which Representative Behn is seen repeatedly toying with her hair and smoothing her eyebrows, ended with Behn receiving a THP ticket for running a red light.
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Battle lines are being drawn over immigration enforcement in Nashville. It’s shaping up as a fight once again pitting liberals who control the island of blue that is Davidson County versus the sea of red that is Tennessee.
In one corner, Nashville’s liberal Mayor, Freddie O’Connell and members of the democrat-majority City Council expressing outrage that federal immigration laws were being enforced in their city. In the other corner, the Trump Department of Homeland Security, Republican Governor Bill Lee and key players in the republican supermajority General Assembly who were clearly peeved at the tone and tenor of the Mayor’s hastily called Monday press conference.
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In a hurriedly-called press conference on Monday, Mayor Freddie O’Connell – without using the exact phrase – laid out his position that the City of Nashville is essentially a sanctuary city.
Mayor O’Connell said he is “heartbroken” State and Federal law enforcement organizations ran traffic stop operations in Nashville over the weekend that resulted in the arrest of illegal aliens. The mayor condemned the arrests, repeatedly stating Metro Nashville Police Department was “not involved in these actions. Enforcing immigration is a Federal responsibility and MNPD officers are not ICE.”
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The Federal Bureau of Investigation is now referring all questions regarding the 2022 Tennessee Highway Patrol traffic stop of Kilmar Abrego Garcia to the Department of Homeland Security and Immigration and Customs Enforcement, even though State News Foundation inquires had nothing to do with either DHS or ICE.
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