Tom Pappert, lead reporter at The Tennessee Star, detailed how key facts about the case of Nashville Noticias reporter Estefany Rodriguez, who was taken into custody by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) in Nashville this week, have been missing from sympathetic media coverage.
Rodriguez was detained by ICE on Wednesday.
The agency has since confirmed to outlet WSMV that Rodriguez was arrested during a “targeted enforcement operation,” adding, “She failed to depart the country and is in violation of the conditions of her visa and currently has no lawful immigration status. She will remain in ICE custody pending her immigration proceedings.”
Pappert, on Friday’s edition of The Michael Patrick Leahy Show, said that while some outlets have portrayed the situation as a journalist being unfairly targeted, the central issue is immigration status.
He said that Rodriguez entered the U.S. on a tourist visa that expired in 2021 and explained the legal implications clearly: “You are here illegally and can be made subject to deportation.”
Pappert emphasized that once the visa expired, she would have been considered unlawfully present unless she had obtained another valid status.
He also focused on uncertainty around Rodriguez’s attempts to obtain legal status, acknowledging reports that she married a U.S. citizen and may have applied for asylum, but stressed that crucial details are unknown.
“We don’t know if she attempted or where she is in the process of attempting to obtain regular status in the United States through her marriage,” Pappert explained.
He further explained that asylum claims must generally be filed within one year of entering the country, saying it “has to be done… within your first 365 days after entering the United States.”
Pappert pointed out neither her attorneys nor supporters have clarified when the asylum application was actually filed.
Another point he raised concerned Rodriguez’s employment. Pappert said she began working for Nashville Noticias in 2022, after her visa had already expired, which raised additional questions about her authorization to work.
He contrasted the timeline of her employment with the reported pending immigration applications and suggested the public reporting does not fully explain how those timelines fit together.
Pappert also commented on reports that Rodriguez may have missed immigration-related appointments. In light of descriptions in sympathetic coverage, he questioned the decision not to immediately comply with official notices.
He said that if he personally received a court notice from the government, his reaction would be straightforward: “If I get a letter from the county that says, ‘you need to go to court on X date,’ I’m going to go.”
The implication, he argued, is that failing to appear when instructed by immigration authorities could complicate a person’s legal standing.
Finally, Pappert warned the case could be framed politically or legally as retaliation for journalism, something he suggested some media outlets might already be encouraging.
He said portraying immigration enforcement against someone who worked as a reporter as an attack on press freedom could set a troubling precedent, arguing that “if we’re going to allow illegal aliens to start masquerading as journalists and say that they’re being horribly oppressed when they’re deported according to U.S. laws… I think that is a very unfortunate development for the United States.”
Tune in now to The Michael Patrick Leahy Show – your AMERICA FIRST news talk!
– Watch LIVE here on X
– Watch LIVE on Roku
– Listen on Spotify
– Listen on WENO AM760 in Nashville
– Read more at @TheTNStarhttps://t.co/z0LgpPT76V— Michael Patrick Leahy (@michaelpleahy) March 6, 2026
– – –
Kaitlin Housler is a reporter at The Tennessee Star and The Star News Network. Follow Kaitlin on X / Twitter.
