Tag: Tennessee Immigrant and Refugee Rights Coalition

Group Biden-Harris Wanted to Help Release Illegal Immigrants into Tennessee Claims Trump Victory Makes America ‘Less Safe’

Tom Pappert
Donald Trump, TIRRC tweet

The Tennessee Immigrant and Refugee Resettlement Coalition (TIRRC) claimed in a Wednesday statement the landslide victory achieved by President-elect Donald Trump will make the country “less safe,” though the group was contacted by an Biden-Harris Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) office in Louisiana to facilitate the release of thousands of illegal immigrants into Tennessee.

“The plans Donald Trump has promised will make every community less safe,” the group claimed in a statement posted to the social media platform X, before listing Trump’s proposals to end birthright citizenship, curtail public support for immigration nonprofits, and unleash the largest domestic deportation operation in the nation’s history.

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Tennessee Immigrant Group, Davidson Democrats Among Those Aiding Nashville Transit Referendum

Tom Pappert
Green Lights for Nashville commercial

Both the Tennessee Immigrant and Refugee Resettlement Coalition (TIRRC) Votes PAC and the Davidson County Democratic Party are among the groups that have provided in-kind contributions to the political action committee formed to support the Nashville transit referendum that will be decided by voters next week, the group revealed in a report filed Tuesday, when the Green Lights for Nashville PAC filed an amended financial disclosure statement with the State of Tennessee.

The report revealed the pro-referendum group received nearly $1.3 million in contributions, mostly from the Nashville Moves Action Fund, which is reportedly a 501 (c) (4) nonprofit that does not need to reveal its donors, but has nonetheless been ordered to register with Tennessee and disclose them by Election Day. 

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Tennessee Nonprofit Tapped by ICE to Release Thousands of Illegal Immigrants Received over $800,000 in Government Grants

Tom Pappert

Tax documents reveal the nonprofit contacted by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to facilitate the transportation and release of thousands of illegal immigrants from detention facilities in Louisiana to Tennessee in 2022 received more than $800,000 of its funding from government sources that year.

Documents released last week by Tennessee Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti reveal the Tennessee Immigrant and Refugee Resettlement Coalition (TIRRC) was central to ICE’s plan to release thousands of illegal immigrants in the Volunteer State.

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Metro Nashville Candidates Say ‘Yes’ to Sanctuary Cities and ‘No’ to ICE

Chris Butler

  NASHVILLE, Tennessee — Metro Nashville Council At-Large candidate Gicola Lane told a crowd of more than 1,000 people Monday she wants city officials to stop working with the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Members of the crowd gave thunderous applause. Later in the evening, Nashville mayoral candidate Julia Clark-Johnson said she wants to turn Nashville into a sanctuary city. “The state of California has been successful into changing a lot of their cities into sanctuary cities,” Clark-Johnson said, suggesting Nashville follow that state’s example. Gicola and Clark-Johnson made these comments at Nashville’s Plaza Mariachi along Nolensville Pike this week for a forum devoted to immigrant rights Several other At-Large and mayoral candidates joined them on stage. The Tennessee Immigrant & Refugee Rights Coalition sponsored the event, as did the American Civil Liberties Union of Tennessee, the American Muslim Advisory Council, and Conexion Americas. The forum was in question-and-answer format, with members of those groups asking, among other things, what the Metro Nashville government can do to disentangle itself from ICE and stop future deportations. At-Large candidate Bob Mendes, already on the Metro Council, said he will continue to do his part, especially with U.S. Republican President Donald Trump in office.…

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Battle Heats Up Over Issue of Welfare for Immigrants, Billionaire Koch Brothers and Tennessee Immigrant Activists on the Same Side

Anna Marie Bolton
TIRRC demonstration

As President Donald Trump continues to push forward with campaign promises to rein in out-of-control immigration, one measure announced in September has the Open Borders activists and some business tycoons up in arms. It is the so-called “public charge” regulatory change published last week in the Federal Register by the US Citizenship and Immigration (ICE) of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). Like all new regulations and re-writes, the proposed rules will be open for public comment. The sixty-day comment period ends on December, 10, 2018. Simply, ‘public charge’ is a very old idea that basically says immigrants shouldn’t be coming to America for welfare benefits. The Trump administration, understanding that the US cannot have open borders and a generous welfare state, wants to make it harder for immigrants already here, in some cases benefiting unfairly from taxpayers’ generosity, to move forward with permanent legal status. Even before the official comment period opened some groups announced their opposition. Two Tennessee pro-immigrant advocacy groups are part of a national campaign to stop the administration’s sweeping reforms of refugee and immigrant policy throughout the government. Calling this recent Trump policy tightening “immoral” and “callous,” the Tennessee Immigrant and Refugee Rights Coalition (TIRRC) and The Tennessee…

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Immigration Activists to Hold Vigils in Nashville and Memphis Tonight to Promote DACA Amnesty

Wendy Wilson

Supporters of allowing DACA recipients to remain permanently in the U.S. will hold a vigil this evening outside the Nashville offices of Sens. Lamar Alexander (R-TN) and Bob Corker (R-TN) on West End Avenue. The vigil at 6:30 p.m. is organized by the Tennessee Immigrant and Refugee Rights Coalition (TIRRC) and JUMP (Jóvenes Unidos por un Mejor Presente, or Youth United for a Better Present). A similar vigil sponsored by TIRRC and the Memphis Youth Association will be held at City Hall in Memphis at 6 p.m. The Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program was started by former President Obama with an executive order and granted illegal immigrants who came to the U.S. as children temporary permission to live and work in the U.S. if they met certain criteria. In September, President Trump rescinded DACA and turned the issue over to Congress to consider a legislative solution. Nearly 800,000 young people nationally have been granted DACA status and there currently are around 690,000 recipients, including more than 8,300 in Tennessee. Activists want Congress to pass a “clean” DACA bill granting residency without approval for the legislation being contingent on funding for a border wall and strengthened interior immigration enforcement, as President…

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Hundreds in Nashville Protest President Trump’s Constitutional Decision to End DACA

Wendy Wilson

  NASHVILLE, Tennessee — Several hundred protesters marched along West End Avenue in Nashville late Tuesday afternoon to denounce President’s Trump decision to end DACA. “Up, up with liberation. Down, down with deportation,” chanted the marchers, as similar protests took place across the country. Meanwhile, Trump supporters who want tougher immigration enforcement and adherence to the Constitution praised the president for following through on a campaign promise. The Trump administration announced early Tuesday that it would phase out DACA, which offers young people who were brought to the U.S. illegally as children and meet certain criteria the opportunity to obtain temporary permission to live and work in the U.S. Many recipients are now young adults. Former President Obama started the program in 2012 through an executive order, which critics called an unconstitutional exercise of power by the executive branch. Now it will be left up to Congress to decide what to do with the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program. DACA recipients, known as Dreamers, will begin losing their permits in March unless Congress acts. Immigration activists are already lobbying Congress to save the program. Should Congress pass legislation to restore the DACA program before it ends six months from now,…

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President Trump’s Decision to End DACA Pleases Supporters, Outrages the Left

Wendy Wilson
Tennessee Star

The Tennessee Immigrant and Refugee Rights Coalition (TIRRC) is calling President Trump’s decision to phase out DACA “cruel and reckless,” but supporters are praising the move. The Trump Administration announced Tuesday morning that DACA recipients will lose their protected status starting in March unless Congress acts. “Attorney General Jeff Sessions sent a letter to the Department of Homeland Security explaining that DACA was not statutorily authorized and was therefore an unconstitutional exercise of discretion by the executive branch,” said a White House news release. The decision is being cheered by Americans who want tougher immigration enforcement, but activist groups like TIRRC are outraged. DACA, or Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, is a program that was started by former President Obama through an executive order. It offers young people who were brought to the U.S. illegally as children a chance to obtain temporary permission to live and work in the U.S. “Over the past five years, the DACA program has been a lifeline for more than 8,300 Tennesseans, providing a sense of security and a chance to dream and invest in their future here,” said TIRRC in an online letter to supporters. “Caving to the demands of extremist attorneys general and white supremacists in…

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Councilman Bob Mendes Blames People Outside Nashville For Foiling ‘Sanctuary City’ Bills, Vows To Find Other Ways To Accomplish Goals

Wendy Wilson
Tennessee Star

  NASHVILLE, Tennessee — Metro Councilman Bob Mendes is blaming opposition from people outside Davidson County for thwarting two “sanctuary city” bills, saying the proposed legislation had broad support among Nashvillians. “Inside the county, the support has been overwhelming for these bills,” he said at a press conference Wednesday, where he announced he will withdraw the bills because of growing opposition and a legal opinion issued Monday by Metro’s lead attorney that presented obstacles. Mendes said the bills had become “a political football” among candidates for office, specifically mentioning the Republican primary for next year’s gubernatorial election. All of the announced and anticipated candidates spoke out against the bills. The opposition became so fierce, with many state legislators opposed and also a budding grassroots movement, that Mendes’ claim of broad support within Davidson County is likely debatable. Mendes and other supporters vowed Wednesday to find non-legislative ways to achieve the same ends. “Our goals are unchanged,” he said. Those goals are at odds with the direction many in the country and across Tennessee want to take with the challenges posed by illegal immigration, leaving Mendes and his like-minded colleagues isolated in Nashville’s liberal enclaves. President Trump, whose tough talk helped…

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Nashville Mayor Megan Barry Slams ICE Agents Trying To Enforce Court Orders of Removal

Wendy Wilson
Tennessee Star

  Nashville Mayor Megan Barry wrote a letter to Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) this week strongly criticizing agents for what she views as inappropriate enforcement of immigration laws, despite the fact that the individuals the agency sought were subject to final orders of removal issued by an immigration court. “Over the past few days, we have heard disturbing reports of members of our community being stopped, questioned, and even harassed as part of an increased effort to enforce deportation orders for individuals who had previously been convicted of criminal activity,” Barry wrote in her letter Tuesday, which was published by WSMV Channel 4. The letter was addressed to an ICE community relations officer in New Orleans. Barry’s complaints centered around enforcement efforts among Kurdish immigrants, many of whom are from Iraq. She said she saw a video in which a “Kurdish-American citizen” was “being stopped and questioned by an ICE official for no apparent reason.” Barry took issue with the word “Police” on the officer’s vest. “Our Metro Nashville Police Department has gone to great lengths in building relationships with our New American community in order to promote public safety,” Barry wrote. “This effort can be undermined when ICE agents…

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Latinos For Tennessee A Conservative ‘Voice of Reason’

Wendy Wilson

  Raul Lopez quickly discovered when he began helping Republicans with Hispanic outreach that he wasn’t working on a level playing field. He was far outnumbered and outspent by Democrats trying to reach the same audience. Lopez tried to make inroads in the Hispanic community for former President George W. Bush and for Tennessee House Speaker Beth Harwell when she chaired the Tennessee Republican Party. The frustrations he experienced prompted him to start Latinos For Tennessee, a conservative political advocacy group. The group champions limited government and free markets, fiscal responsibility, immigration enforcement and traditional values. “We’re a counter voice,” Lopez told The Tennessee Star. Started four years ago, the group was organized as a political action committee with an outreach and educational wing. The group is based in Nashville and plans to expand its presence in other parts of the state. Lopez, a native of Cuba who came to the U.S. when he was five years old, is the executive director. In addition, there is an eight-member board of directors. The board chairman is Tommy Vallejos, a Clarksville pastor and Montgomery County commissioner who has announced his intention to run for state Sen. Mark Green’s vacated seat pending Green’s confirmation…

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Metro Nashville Teachers Union Hosts Organizational Meeting For Progressive Activist Group

Wendy Wilson
Tennessee Star

  The Metro Nashville teachers union hosted a meeting earlier this month for a statewide progressive activist group forming a chapter in Nashville. In a March 18 post on its own Facebook page, Statewide Organizing for Community eMpowerment (SOCM) thanked the Metro Nashville Education Association (MNEA) for hosting “the first public event organized by our chapter forming in Nashville/Davidson County.” The MNEA is an affiliate of the National Education Association (NEA). Pronounced “sock-em,” SOCM is an activist group that has been working for “social, economic, and environmental justice” for more than 40 years, according to the group’s website. The group was known for many years by its original name, Save Our Cumberland Mountains, which reflected its early mission of helping in poor coalfield communities in five northern counties in the Cumberland Mountains. The group continues to be heavily involved in environmental issues with its opposition to mountaintop removal mining and fracking and its promotion of “water quality justice.” However, it has also expanded its reach into other areas. It lists the Tennessee Immigrant and Refugee Rights Coalition (TIRRC) as one of its partner organizations. In 2013, SOCM formed a Social Justice Committee that according to its page on the group’s website addresses racism, prison…

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In Nashville, Leftist Immigration Activists Oppose Revised Travel Ban While President Trump’s Supporters Back It

Wendy Wilson

The Tennessee Immigrant and Refugee Rights Coalition is condemning President Trump’s executive order issued Monday, which TIRRC is calling “Muslim Ban 2.0.” The revised executive order, which revokes an executive order from January 27,  places a temporary 90-day ban on immigration from residents of six Middle Eastern countries (Syria, Sudan, Somalia,  Iran, Libya, and Yemen) whose Muslim populations total 167 million, or about ten percent of the 1.6 billion Muslims in the world. President Trump’s plans to enforce immigration laws, fight terrorism and reduce refugee flows, however,  have broad support among his supporters who elected him to office in November. At Saturday’s large pro-Trump Spirit of America Rally in Nashville, there were signs reading “Close the Borders,” “Freedom Isn’t Free. Security. Law-Order. Sovereignty,” and “Veterans Before Refugees,” and several speakers vigorously supported the president’s plans for greater vetting and screening of all immigrants. In a news release, TIRRC acknowledged that the new executive order removes Iraq from the list of countries affected by the ban, Syrians will no longer be indefinitely banned but are subject to the same 120-day moratorium as other refugees, and green card holders will not be affected. “However, the intent and impact of this sweeping executive order remains…

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