Immigrant rights groups report ICE activity in Nashville, hold protest
Ashley Warbington told The Tennessean she saw Tennessee Highway Patrol troopers collaborate with ICE agents to pull over vehicles and detain the drivers during the early morning hours of May 4. The arrests happened in the Antioch area surrounding Nolensville Pike and Harding Place.
"I did see a stop on Harding Place by Tennessee Highway Patrol," Warbington said. "Behind them was two unmarked vehicles. A little bit up further, at the exact same time, was another stop that looked to be the same. ... I saw someone get detained, put in an unmarked vehicle and driven away."
Both THP and ICE's Nashville office did not return requests for information.
Members of the immigrant rights groups stayed outside the Nashville ICE office for at least four hours in the afternoon of May 4 awaiting more information from officials about who was detained, where they were being held and when they would be released. Multiple family members of those detained were among that group.
Metro Council member Sean Parker was also at a noon news conference hosted by the advocacy groups demanding answers about the alleged THP and ICE operation.
State Rep. Aftyn Behn released a statement about the reports of ICE activity.
"What I've heard anecdotally is deeply disturbing," Behn said. "If THP's involvement is confirmed, it raises urgent and serious questions about THP's role and authority in detaining Nashvillians for ICE."
"Dragnet operations like this do nothing to improve public safety," the statement continued. "What they do is terrorize families, disrupt lives and shatter trust between law enforcement and the communities they are supposed to serve."
The Tennessee Immigrant and Refugee Rights Coalition also posted on social media about the arrests, telling anyone affected by the situation to call the resource hotline at 615-414-1030.
Photojournalist Nicole Hester contributed to this report.
This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Nashville immigrant rights groups demand answers after ICE activity
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