The U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) on Wednesday said that State Representative Aftyn Behn (D-Nashville) was providing aid to criminals earlier this month, when the Nashville Democrat claimed to follow Tennessee Highway Patrol (THP) vehicles during their joint immigration enforcement operation with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).
“This Administration is not playing games with the lives and safety of our ICE officers,” wrote DHS in a post to the social media platform X. “People doxxing our officers and impeding ICE operations are siding with vicious cartels, human traffickers, and violent criminals.”
DHS then described Behn and colleagues supporting her as “sanctuary city politicians” who “are fighting for illegal aliens.”
This Administration is not playing games with the lives and safety of our ICE officers. People doxxing our officers and impeding ICE operations are siding with vicious cartels, human traffickers, and violent criminals.
While sanctuary politicians are fighting for criminal… https://t.co/wMh7DrL7Vh
— Homeland Security (@DHSgov) May 21, 2025
As The Tennessee Star reported last week, Behn’s activities were live streamed to Instagram, and yesterday U.S. Representative Andy Ogles (R-TN-05) highlighted the videos as evidence of lawlessness being promoted by Nashville Mayor Freddie O’Connell.
“Freddie O’Connell is enabling Nashville liberals to actively obstruct ICE and law enforcement operations,” wrote Ogles on Wednesday, arguing Behn’s actions amounted to “aiding and abetting” illegal immigrants seeking to avoid deportation.
Ogles requested the House Judiciary Committee and House Homeland Security Committee open probes into O’Connell after the mayor signed an executive order mandating Metro Nashville employees report interactions with ICE, or other federal employees discussing immigration enforcement, to the mayor’s office and his Office of New Americans.
While O’Connell insisted he has no cause for concern over the possible inquiries, he recently claimed the executive order was not aimed at providing illegal immigrants with advanced notice of federal enforcement operations, but rather to give Metro Nashville “some awareness” of such plans.
Ogles’ requests for probes also followed the mayor’s announcement of the “Belonging Fund,” which was described by O’Connell’s office as a joint project between Metro Nashville and the Community Foundation of Middle Tennessee.
After Ogles sought a congressional inquiry, O’Connell similarly insisted that no taxpayer dollars were directed to the new fund, but public documents reveal that two nonprofits which helped seed the fund with $30,000 each received more than $1 million from Metro Nashville. The funding was made available as a result of former President Joe Biden’s American Rescue Plan.
Despite the calls for congressional oversight, the mayor has stated that he might sue the Trump administration, claiming without evidence that some of the illegal immigrants arrested by ICE and THP could be legal residents who were merely driving through the streets of Nashville without any form of identification which would signify their legal status.
“I think there is a strong probability that people have been detained who are here legally but simply did not have documentation with them as they were driving on the streets in Nashville,” O’Connell said last week. “We want to validate that.”
ICE reported a total of 196 illegal immigrants were detained as a result of the agency’s joint operation with THP. Ninety-five of these individuals had previous and pending criminal convictions.
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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].
Photo “Aftyn Behn” by Andy Ogles.
“…who are here legally but simply did not have documentation with them as they were driving on the streets in Nashville,” O’Connell said last week. “We want to validate that.”
Lol, this coming from the city of license plate readers tracking innocent travelers every day.
This woman is a dangerous enemy not only to Tennessee but the United States. Many do not realize that she was the TN Director of the extremely radical leftist anti-Trump organization group “Indivisible.” This group actively works to infiltrate state government with their radical candidates and to unseat conservatives. HOW DID SHE EVER GET ELECTED? Are the people in Nashville so lost they actually voted for this woman?? She needs to be ousted from office ASAP.
“People doxxing our officers…”
Just one problem with this–nowhere in the article is there any suggestion that anyone was doxxing anyone else. Sounds like Homeland Security is as clueless as the rest of government.
A great way to thin out the Libertards in Tennessee‼️
Why is this person not under arrest after admitting she is interfering with the enforcement of federal law?
Just amazing!