The Tennessee House Republican Caucus on Tuesday said the recent wave of arrests by federal officials with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), which occurred during a joint law enforcement operation on Sunday and Monday, come after state lawmakers have passed legislation aimed at making the Volunteer State a less attractive destination for illegal immigrants.
ICE confirmed the joint operation with Tennessee Highway Patrol (THP) had resulted in more than 150 traffic stops as of Monday, and it has since been reported that the stops led to 84 arrests of individuals in the country illegally, with those arrested including a member of the Venezuelan prison gang, Tren de Aragua, a convicted child sex offender, and a number of gang members.
Noting that Republicans in the General Assembly led the passage of Public Chapter 716 last year, which mandated law enforcement agencies to notify federal agencies of illegal immigrant arrests, the House Republican Caucus said the legislation paved the way for the law enforcement activity.
The Republicans wrote, “we aim to demagnetize Tennessee from the burdens created by the Biden administration’s disastrous national security policies,” and added that they “fully support the arrest of anyone who is violating our laws.”
They proceeded to argue that Nashvillians should be concerned by the opposition to the arrests by local Democrats, including Mayor Freddie O’Connell, who DHS singled out after he claimed the agency made the city less safe by enforcing immigration laws.
During the operation in Tennessee, ICE agents arrested a convicted child sex predator, a member of Tren de Aragua, an individual convicted of aggravated assault, and multiple aliens with drug charges. The Nashville Mayor should want these criminal illegal aliens off American… pic.twitter.com/27UVncviTk
— Homeland Security (@DHSgov) May 6, 2025
“Nashville residents should be highly concerned that their elected Democrat leaders choose to prioritize the well-being of criminals who are here illegally over their law-abiding constituents,” wrote the caucus. “The Democrat Party’s pro-criminal, pro-illegal immigration, defund the police agenda and disdain for the rule of law have left communities defenseless and families shattered. They have truly lost their way.”
The Republicans added, “Tennesseans deserve a government that understands its sacred obligation to prioritize the safety, security, financial and economic well-being of those who are lawfully here. Tennessee Republicans are committed to delivering exactly that.”
Earlier this year, the Tennessee General Assembly passed new immigration legislation during a special legislative session, creating the new Centralized Immigration Enforcement Division (CIEO), a new division of the Tennessee Department of Safety and Homeland Security (TDOSHS) created to enforce immigration laws.
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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].
Nashville’s Metro Council and the Mayor are cowards. They lack the courage of their conviction as none of them will say the obvious out loud, that “Nashville is a sanctuary city”. But obviously, Homeland Security and ICE know. Hence, the actions of this week, for which every Nashvillian concerned about the safety of our community ought to be thankful. Despite what you might think if you only listen to and read the local media, many of us are in full support of these efforts to remove illegal aliens from our community. Good job, boys! Keep up the good work.
I am glad to see these illegal aliens being detained and hopefully deported with their entire brethren. The US should never be the dumping ground for the rest of the world’s “untouchables” from their own country. The so-called mayor of Nashville is a progressive marxist and the entire metro council is polluted by this like minded thinking. South Nashville is an incubator for gangs and criminals and it is long overdue to clean this poop hole up. A big FU to Broom Hilda aka Ginny Welsch and the other leftists on the metro council-perish to the sand!!!
It is wonderful to see our tax dollars at work cleaning up the mess from the past President’s administration. The illegal aliens have to go now, we cannot afford, nor should we be paying for their keep. If they wish to return to the U.S., they can do so legally along with those already in the process.
As the grandson of a “LEGAL” immigrant, I would like to thank Homeland Security, ICE, President Trump and the Republican leadership at the Federal and State level for getting illegal immigration under control and removing them until they can do it legally and with proper vetting. Most of the metro council, the mayor and state democrats are mindless socialist that don’t have a clue about the right and wrong way to anything.