A law enforcement operation conducted by the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) in conjunction with the Tennessee Highway Patrol (THP) in Nashville resulted in the arrests of 196 criminal illegal aliens, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) announced Tuesday.
The enforcement operation conducted by ICE and THP began last Saturday evening.
DHS said of the 196 arrests seen during the operation, 95 were of aliens who had prior criminal convictions and pending criminal charges, and 31 were of aliens who reentered the U.S. illegally after previously being deported, which the agency noted is a felony offense under federal law.
ICE and the TN Highway Patrol have arrested 196 criminal illegal aliens during an operation in Nashville.
Despite the success of this enforcement operation, the Nashville Mayor has claimed these operations were done by “people who do not share our values of safety." pic.twitter.com/KyCD9lNaq6
— Homeland Security (@DHSgov) May 13, 2025
Among the aliens arrested during the operation include a 60-year old convicted rapist from Iraq, a 33-year old MS-13 gang member from El Salvador, drug traffickers from El Salvador and Haiti, and a 39-year old from Guatemala convicted of aggravated assault.
DHS emphasized it will continue to enforce immigration law to protect American communities from repeat offenders and violent criminal aliens.
“This operation resulted in getting gang members, sex offenders, and other violent criminals off Nashville’s streets. President Trump and Secretary Noem will continue to stand with victims and the brave ICE agents who are on the frontlines making America safe again,” DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin said in a statement.
Despite the removal of aliens with violent criminal histories from Nashville, the city’s mayor, Freddie O’Connell, has claimed that the enforcement operations were “not focused” on making Nashville “safer.”
O’Connell has since launched a “Belonging Fund” to “support immigrants in Nashville during moments of crisis” and signed an executive order to establish protocols for various Metro Nashville departments to provide the mayor’s office with any information deemed “immigration communications” that might reflect forthcoming federal immigration enforcement in the city.
DHS called O’Connell a “pro-open borders politician,” adding he would “rather protect illegal aliens than American citizens.”
“You would think all public officials would unite around DHS bringing violent criminal illegal aliens to justice and removing them from American communities,” DHS Assistant Secretary McLaughlin added.
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Kaitlin Housler is a reporter at The Tennessee Star and The Star News Network. Follow Kaitlin on X / Twitter.
Most Metro employees do not support Freddi’s policies on illegal aliens.
They cannot be open about it, or they’ll lose their jobs.
What about the FOP? Where do they stand?
Where does Sheriff Darren Hall stand?
We want to know, so we can unelected him if he is compromised. I think he is compromised bc his wife is employed in an admin position in Freddie’s Human Resources Dept (6 figures).
This is a clear Conflict of Interest, which prevents our Sheriff from cooperating with ICE.
This creates a dangerous situation in Nashville. Gangs are emboldened. They have renamed Antioch. It’s now called Hispantioch.
The gangs are in control.