NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WTVF) — ICE enforcement has increased in Davidson County during the first full month of President Donald Trump's administration.
Last month, we heard Nashville Mayor Freddie O'Connell's thoughts on how police and federal ICE agents interact, especially as the Trump administration continues to make sweeping changes across the country.
“As mayor I want every member of this community — no matter race, ethnicity, religion, sexual orientation, immigration status — to feel safe, confident and welcome in Nashville, including in your interactions with law enforcement,” said O’Connell.
But here's the thing: Metro Police do not have authority over Davidson County's jails. Those fall under Davidson County Sheriff Daron Hall. The Sheriff's Office told us that while they are not directly in contact with ICE, the agency automatically receives lists of names of people in Nashville's jails who may be undocumented.
Chief of Staff Karla West told NewsChannel 5 that no procedures or policies have changed at the Sheriff's Office. She said they've never contacted ICE about people in their jails since Sheriff Hall pulled out of a federal program that allowed his deputies to act somewhat like ICE agents, a program called 287(g).
However, she explained that doesn't mean ICE isn't getting any information from inside the jails. When someone is booked, West says the system automatically sends information to three different agencies — ICE, NCIC, and the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation. She added that ICE officials can then ask local sheriffs to keep an undocumented immigrant behind bars for up to two days past when they would have normally been released. State law requires sheriffs to give ICE that extra time to pick them up.
Data from DCSO shows that last month, ICE agents picked up nearly four times as many people from Nashville jails as they did during the same time last year.
So, what has changed? Well, the administrations have. The Trump administration has been vocal about carrying out mass deportations. While many administration officials say their focus is on deporting violent criminals, attorneys for Tennessee Justice for Our Neighbors claim that ICE is deporting some undocumented immigrants charged with only minor offenses, even if those charges are dropped before they are convicted.
“Immigration is being directed to detain basically as many people as they can, and you know people with low-level offenses or no offense at all, wrongful accusations, bad arrests, are still subject to having an ICE detainer and being picked up by immigration,” explained TJFON Legal Director Emily Stotts.
Data obtained by ProPublicashows that out of 14,000 migrant arrests under the new administration, less than half had criminal records.
In a recent interview with Scripps News, Trump’s Border Czar Tom Homan stated that being undocumented already makes one a criminal.
“There is nothing in the Immigration and Nationality Act that says that in addition to illegal entry, another crime must be committed. Illegal entry into the country is a crime,” said Homan.
Not everyone who is undocumented has entered the country illegally, but Tennessee Justice for Our Neighbors says that under the Trump administration, all undocumented immigrants are being treated as criminals.
Do you have more information about this story? You can email me at Patsy.Montesinos@newschannel5.com
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-Rebecca Schleicher
