Nashville Mayor Freddie O’Connell on Sunday touted his “years” of “successful collaboration” with the Tennessee Immigrant Refugee Rights Coalition (TIRRC), a nonprofit that was asked by U.S. Immigration Customs and Enforcement (ICE) to help facilitate the release of tens of thousands of illegal immigrants from a Louisiana detention facility into Tennessee.
After The Tennessean asked O’Connell about his disappointment following the decision by the Metro Nashville Council not to approve a contract for a private company to install license plate readers in the city’s streets in its Sunday interview, the mayor pivoted to public safety concerns raised by a “segment” of Nashville’s immigrant community, before referencing another “segment” that is concerned about President-elect Donald Trump’s plans for mass deportation of illegal immigrants.
“And then the segment that I also think is very successfully represented by TIRCC [sic], the Tennessee Immigrant and Refugee Rights Coalition, that is very, very concerned about changes in federal (immigration) policy,” O’Connell told The Tennessean. “That may mean we are dealing at a local level with the impacts of policies like a mass deportation program, which still seems to be getting quite a bit of discussion at the federal level. They are right now very hard to reconcile.”
The mayor then touted his longtime collaboration with TIRRC to the outlet.
“I’ve had years of conversations and successful collaboration with TIRCC [sic] and so we, we want to get this right for the entire city,” said O’Connell before the mayor told The Tennessean the city must balance offering a “true sense of public safety” with “personal safety at the individual level” in its approach to meeting the needs of various segments of the immigrant community.
In October, the office of Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti released internal emails obtained through its successful lawsuit against the Biden-Harris administration to prevent the administration’s 2022 plans to release illegal immigrants into Tennessee, revealing TIRRC was contacted by ICE to help arrange transportation of immigrants to the Volunteer State from a Louisiana detention facility.
Skrmetti’s lawsuit arose after TIRRC recommended the federal government involve Governor Bill Lee in its plans for releases, prompting an outcry from the governor, as well as Senators Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) and Bill Hagerty (R-TN).
The nonprofit received over $800,000 in funding from government sources in 2022, and this year planned to receive nearly $900,000 from government sources.
TIRRC recently supported the successful Choose How You Move transit referendum championed by O’Connell, with tax documents released in late October revealing the group provided $34,689.20 worth of in-kind contributions to a pro-referendum political committee.
Nashville is currently being sued by an anti-referendum group that claims the city violated state law by including traffic signals and sidewalks in the referendum.
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Tom Pappert is the lead reporter for The Tennessee Star, and also reports for The Pennsylvania Daily Star and The Arizona Sun Times. Follow Tom on X/Twitter. Email tips to [email protected].
Photo “Freddie O’Connell” by Freddie O’Connell.
Hello Elon Musk? We can save about a million dollars here in Nashville, please get rid of tirrc.
Freddie, why do we no longer have a Christmas Parade in Nashville?
TIRRC is a cancer on this city and state and must be removed. Freddie also…..
This helps the people of Tennessee How ??
This stupidity has to end. Putting illegals ahead of our citizens should be a reason to oust any politician
Sorry Freddie, this wasn’t a collaboration, this was a dump job on the people of Tennessee. This is a democrat created problem that now needs to be fixed by the more rational officials.
Nashville needs to FIRE THIS ASSCLOWN MAYOR AND
Elect one who REPRESENTS THE WILL OF THE PEOPLE. HEY MAYOR TENNESSEE IS A REPUBLICAN STATE SUPPORTING PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP 🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸