TN House Speaker demands Nashville mayor rescind executive order tied to ICE interactions
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WKRN) — A state leader is pushing back against Nashville's response to recent Immigration and Customs Enforcement activity.
Tennessee House Speaker Cameron Sexton is calling on Nashville Mayor Freddie O'Connell to rescind an executive order he issued last month.
In May, a coordinated effort between ICE and Tennessee Highway Patrol took 'everyone at Metro by surprise,' according to the Metro government's legal director. The Department of Homeland Security said the operation ended with 196 people arrested.
'We do comply with the law': Nashville mayor responds to investigation into his office
To maintain transparency, O'Connell enacted Executive Order 30. That order requires the Metro Nashville Police Department and Metro Council members to document and publish interactions with federal immigration authorities.
Those reports are now public, but early on, individuals involved in those interactions were identified, sparking backlash. According to O'Connell, as soon as the names were found, they were scrubbed.
On Thursday, June 5, Sexton took to social media to demand that the mayor reverse the order, claiming it has jeopardized state and federal agents 'to the extent that individuals are harassing and interfering in the lawful duty of these agents.'
'While Metro has refused to assist federal agents with ICE; they decided to escalate it by forcing all employees to act as big brother,' Sexton wrote.
'Antioch bows to no council member': Some constituents call for Metro Councilman's resignation following immigration remarks
Sexton acknowledged the mayor has the authority to issue the order, but he thinks it's time rescind it.
'In my opinion, I think it may do more harm to the agents and embolden people to maybe go looking for them instead of allowing them to do their job,' Sexton told News 2. 'People can disagree on whether or not they should be doing what they're doing, and they can debate that, but empowering the Metro government to act as the overseer of all that through executive order, I think, was a little bit too much.'
The Tennessee Fraternal Order of Police said it will ask Nashville's District Attorney for a criminal investigation into the release of federal agents' names. The organization is also asking members of the legislature to request an investigation by the Tennessee Attorney General.
'The mayor and his office must be held accountable for their actions. The staff member who posted this should be terminated for these actions. If the mayor authorized this information, he should take responsibility for this travesty and resign. Ultimately, this publication of information is the responsibility of Mayor O'Connell. He is the elected official that is responsible for his office and his staff,' the Tennessee Fraternal Order of Police said in a statement. 'Law enforcement officers, local, state, and federal, should not have to worry about the elected officials overstepping their reach and putting private information out to the public. Actions such as this demonstrate why men and women do not want to enter law enforcement in today's society.'
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News 2 reached out to the mayor's office for comment, but as of publication, we have yet to hear back.
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