Border Czar Tom Homan Slams Mayor, Announces Nashville Visit

Border czar Tom Homan said he plans to visit Nashville in the “near future” to oversee increased immigration enforcement operations by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) as the city’s mayor, Freddie O’Connell, advances efforts to shield illegal aliens from law enforcement.

Earlier this month, a joint immigration enforcement operation conducted by ICE in conjunction with the Tennessee Highway Patrol (THP) in Nashville resulted in the arrests of 196 criminal illegal aliens.

.@RealTomHoman: I plan on going to Nashville in the near future… Everybody that wants to push back against ICE, we’re going to pay a lot of attention to them… if you’re going to support criminal aliens walking the street, then we know there’s a problem there. https://t.co/UKylNTe1AL pic.twitter.com/Hxjsmdnmb0

— Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) May 27, 2025

Despite the operation seeing the removal of aliens with violent criminal histories, O’Connell has maintained that the enforcement operation was “not focused” on making the city “safer,” and, in response, launched a “Belonging Fund” to “support immigrants in Nashville during moments of crisis.”

The mayor also went as far to sign an executive order establishing protocols for various Metro Nashville departments to provide his office with any information deemed “immigration communications” that might reflect forthcoming federal immigration enforcement in the city – essentially creating an early warning system for immigrants to evade federal immigration enforcement.

On Tuesday, Homan said O’Connell’s efforts to thwart official immigration enforcement duties are “not going to stop” ICE from carrying out operations to remove illegal aliens in Nashville.

“We’re going to pay a lot of attention to [O’Connell] because… if you’re going to support criminal aliens walking the street, then we know there’s a problem there,” Homan said during a Fox News interview.

“When we have places like Nashville pushing back against us getting the bad guys, that’s where we have to concentrate resources to make those streets safer,” Homan added.

The Davidson County Republican Party said it “welcomes” Homan to Nashville, adding, “When our mayor Freddie O’Connell sides with criminal aliens over law enforcement, it’s time for backup.”

Homan’s upcoming visit to Nashville comes as U.S. Representative Andy Ogles (R-TN-05) confirmed on Monday that O’Connell will be investigated by the U.S. House Judiciary and Homeland Security committees to determine “whether or not federal dollars have been used in criminal enterprise.”

– – –

Kaitlin Housler is a reporter at The Tennessee Star and The Star News Network. Follow Kaitlin on X / Twitter.
Photo “Tom Homan” by Gage Skidmore. CC BY-SA 2.0.