Tennessee has seen more than 18,500 illegal aliens removed since President Donald Trump began his second term, with The Tennessee Star’s lead reporter Tom Pappert reporting that the number of departures from the state could climb as high as 80,000 when voluntary departures are included.
Pappert discussed the figures during Tuesday’s episode of The Michael Patrick Leahy Show following a release from the Tennessee House Republican Caucus that ICE has removed more than 18,500 illegal aliens from the Volunteer State since January 2025.
“Today, the Tennessee House Republican Caucus has announced that ICE has officially removed more than 18,500 illegal aliens from Tennessee under Trump’s second administration, since January of last year,” Pappert said.
The Migration Policy Institute estimated in 2023 that approximately 185,000 illegal aliens were living in Tennessee. Pappert said the number of removals therefore represents about 10 percent of that estimated population.
“That would mean that in less than two years, the Trump administration, with the full cooperation of the Tennessee General Assembly, the Tennessee Sheriff’s Offices that participated in the 287(g) program, et cetera, have deported 10 percent of this population,” Pappert said.
Pappert said the number of aliens who have left Tennessee could be considerably higher when voluntary departures are included.
“Additionally, we know for a fact, going back to the 1950s, that when somebody is deported, they are physically removed from the United States of America, that does not happen in a vacuum,” Pappert said. “There are typically other people that leave afterwards, family members, et cetera.”
He continued, “So the Trump administration has said anywhere between 2.2 and 3.3 illegal aliens leave the country for every removal under this administration. That would mean, potentially, could be about 80,000 out of 185,000 illegal aliens living in Tennessee have been deported or voluntarily left in just two years.”
Pappert attributed Tennessee’s immigration enforcement efforts in part to cooperation between state and federal authorities.
“We saw ICE come out a week or so ago saying that 287(g) program partners alone have resulted in 1,800 arrests of illegal aliens according to their numbers,” Pappert said.
He pointed to Tennessee’s Centralized Immigration Enforcement Division, along with other state laws, as additional components of the state’s approach.
“We now have the Centralized Immigration Enforcement Division of the Tennessee Department of Homeland Security,” Pappert said. “There are now laws requiring drivers of commercial vehicles in the Volunteer State to be American citizens and be able to prove it and speak English.”
“When you take all of this into consideration, Tennessee has done 10 times more than just what a 287(g) program can pull off, and I think that is the real story here,” he added.
Pappert also discussed Davidson County and other sheriff’s offices that have not entered 287(g) agreements.
According to Pappert, Davidson County may not be required to participate in the same manner because its sheriff’s office operates the jail rather than performing traditional policing duties, while still identifying people who may be illegal aliens when ICE requests detainers.
However, Pappert said that at his last review, approximately eight other sheriff’s offices that perform policing activities had not entered 287(g) agreements.
“I’m going to be following this. These sheriff’s offices have until January 1st of 2027 to say, ‘Okay, we’re going to cooperate with the federal government when it comes to illegal immigration,’ or else they could, not will, but could lose all state funding,” Pappert said.
Pappert also said he expects the Tennessee General Assembly to revisit the issue when lawmakers return in January.
“I think that the General Assembly needs to look at Nashville and create some legislation to make sure that they are complying with the law as intended,” he said.
Tune in now to The Michael Patrick Leahy Show – your AMERICA FIRST news talk!
– Watch LIVE here on X
– Watch LIVE on YouTube / Rumble / Roku / AppleTV
– Listen on Spotify
– Listen on WENO AM760 in Nashville
– Read more at @TheTNStarhttps://t.co/IiXV2EG3Kl— Michael Patrick Leahy (@michaelpleahy) September 29, 2026
– – –
Kaitlin Housler is a reporter at The Tennessee Star and The Star News Network.
