Tom Pappert, lead reporter at The Tennessee Star, said Nashville Mayor Freddie O’Connell is aiding and abetting illegal aliens by issuing an executive order to establish protocols for various Metro departments to provide his office with any information deemed “immigration communications” that might reflect forthcoming federal immigration enforcement in the city.
Last week, O’Connell amended Executive Order 30 to mandate that any communication by federal immigration law enforcement or their federal agencies to Nashville police, fire, emergency management, or emergency communications personnel be reported to the Mayor’s Office of New Americans.
The order also specifies that any communications between federal officials and “a Metro non-emergency services department or office” be reported to the mayor’s office.
O’Connell’s action came as U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and the Tennessee Highway Patrol (THP) conducted joint immigration enforcement operations in Middle Tennessee last week, which saw the arrests of over 100 illegal aliens, some of whom boast violent criminal histories.
Noting how the Office of New Americans was created under former Nashville Mayor Megan Barry as a city-funded operation that collaborates with pro-illegal immigration groups, notably the Tennessee Immigrant and Refugee Rights Coalition (TIRRC), Pappert said the office is less about integration and more about shielding illegal aliens from law enforcement.
“The [Office of New Americans] is supposed to be about becoming American citizens and a part of American life. What it actually seems to do…is it coordinates with Nashville’s immigrant communities and nonprofits including the Tennessee Immigrant and Refugee Rights Coalition, which is the group that has put forward $30,000 for illegal immigrants to get legal help and was part of the Biden administration’s effort to release illegal immigrants into Tennessee,” Pappert said on Monday’s edition of The Michael Patrick Leahy Show.
Pappert further argued that O’Connell’s order is effectively a system to “alert criminals they may be potentially arrested,” which he stressed interferes with legal and legitimate immigration enforcement.
“After the Trump administration showed them what immigration enforcement looks like, now maybe they can give illegal immigrants this advanced warning next time,” Pappert said.
Pappert pointed out how Nashville’s leadership appears to be ideologically committed to resisting federal immigration laws in what could only be described as an effort to satisfy the leftist political base.
“At some point you have to wonder when the Metro Council is trying to give these people advanced notice, are they really just doing this to gin up their far left base that sees these people as Saints, better than us citizens, a new type of American that exceeds our potential. Or are they doing this because they just really like the idea of Nashville becoming a horrible place to live right up there with Los Angeles and New York? It boggles the mind,” Pappert said.
He continued, saying that he believes the Metro Nashville Council and the mayor are engaged in “performative” politics to maintain power.
“They’ve got themselves in a Catch-22 where the people who vote for them want them to, essentially, go into a state of civil war against the Trump administration in defense of criminal illegal aliens. Obviously they can’t do that, but they need these votes…and they have to do these performative tasks,” Pappert said.
Tune in now to the on The Michael Patrick Leahy Show – your AMERICA FIRST news talk!
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Kaitlin Housler is a reporter at The Tennessee Star and The Star News Network. Follow Kaitlin on X / Twitter.
Fst Freddie should be one of the first public officials arrested and charged for supporting illegals. Have Tom Homan do it personally. Set an example for the other public cretins around the countries.
Simple, arrest him for obstruction and for aiding and abetting. Problem solved
freddie is acting as a traitor to his country.
so is part of the council.
they should be investigated, and Nashville should fact the possibility of losing federal funds for being a sanctuary city