Tennessee advocates demand ICE release the names of those detained
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WKRN) — An immigrant rights group is working to determine who was arrested in Nashville ICE operations so they can get legal help and ensure due process is protected.
More than 80 people were arrested by ICE over the weekend in Davidson County. However, their names have not been released, leaving families and attorneys in the dark.
'TIRRC is trying to communicate with everyone who says that they have a loved one that they haven't heard from,' said Allen King, legal services director at TIRRC. 'We are building that database of people that we are hopefully going to find and represent.'
Nashville releases timeline of ICE activity across city
Five Tennessee based organizations—including Advocates for Immigrant Rights (AIR), Tennessee Immigrant and Refugee Rights Coalition (TIRRC), Tennessee Justice for Our Neighbors (TNJFON), Latino Memphis, and Community Legal Center (CLC)— have sent a letter to ICE's New Orleans Field Office calling for transparency and immediate access to counsel.
'So we can see where they are being held and we can schedule some interviews with them just to screen them for any possible forms of immigration relief to possibly get them on the path to a status or even just get them out of detention,' Director of the Immigrant Justice Program at Community Legal Center, Colton Bane, said.
'We are actively coordinating with these families to provide legal representation to those detained,' the letter reads in part.
The one-page letter describes how on Sunday, an attorney with TIRRC was blocked from speaking with three detainees, raising concerns about due process.
'The detained individuals now face significant practical barriers to communicating with counsel from detention in Louisiana,' a subtitle in the letter reads.
More than 80 arrested since ICE operations began in Nashville, ICE says
The biggest concern is due process. Attorneys told News 2 it is not uncommon to see rushed proceedings and detainees feeling pressured to sign 'self-deportation' forms, often without legal counsel or language support.
'They do not read or speak English, but they are being made to sign this form that would essentially deport them back to their country of origin or even to a country they have never been to before,' Senior Staff Attorney with Latino Memphis, Skye Austin, said.
'Sadly, there really isn't much we can do at that point,' Bane expressed. 'It is really hard to overcome the waiving of rights.'
Despite ICE claiming it targets people with violent criminal histories, advocates said the arrests appear broader.
'I think the biggest misconception is that 'A' these people are criminals, right?' Austin said. 'That is a huge one. But then 'B,' that they automatically have access to or can get hold of representation, and that due process is being served, that is not happening.'
'Any immigrant, whether they have a pending application with CIS or the court or not, is going to be a target, and that frightens me because what is the point of immigration law if you are not going to abide by it?' Austin added.
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If and when the names are released on ICE's portal, they said they can start notifying families and preparing to defend their case as quickly as possible.
'Try to apply for the first immigration bond and then, if possible, find representation for them to apply for other forms of immigration relief,' King said.
'There's still a fight to be had even when someone is detained; a lot of people think that is the end of the road, but it is not,' Bane concluded.
If the recent ICE operations have affected you or a family member, TIRRC urges you to call its resource line at 615-414-1030 for legal information and resources. The coalition also shared this link to offer a review of constitutional rights when interacting with law enforcement or ICE.
To donate to The Belonging Fund, an effort to support Nashville immigrants during moments of crisis, follow this link.
Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
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Forbes
16 minutes ago
- Forbes
LA Protests: National Guard Troops Have Detained Protesters (Live Updates)
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Similar protests have spread to other cities across the U.S., including San Francisco, New York, Chicago, Denver, Las Vegas, Philadelphia, Seattle, Boston, Santa Ana, California, and parts of Texas, including Dallas, Houston, San Antonio and Austin. At least 80 protesters were arrested in New York, while 15 were arrested in Philadelphia, more than a dozen were arrested in Austin and one was detained in Dallas. At least two police officers were injured during protests in Philadelphia. Los Angeles Metro Police officers stand on the road in front of city hall Tuesday night. People take part in an anti-ICE protest in New York City on Tuesday. Protesters walk by the Cloud Gate sculpture in Chicago on Tuesday. Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass will hold a press conference at 2 p.m. EDT Wednesday. 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Glendale's city manager opted to end the contract after 'careful evaluation of legal, operational and community considerations,' the city said, noting the decision was not 'politically driven.' Trump reportedly said in a memo he is invoking Title 10 of the U.S. Code on Armed Services, which allows the federal government to deploy the National Guard if the United States is 'invaded or is in danger of invasion by a foreign nation,' or if there is a 'rebellion or danger of a rebellion against the authority of the Government of the United States.' Vice President JD Vance said in a post on X on Saturday night the influx of immigrants, which he called 'Biden's border crisis,' amounts to an 'invasion,' rebuffing critics who have questioned whether Trump had the authority to deploy troops. Trump's move has faced some pushback from constitutional scholars. 'For the federal government to take over the California National Guard, without the request of the governor, to put down protests is truly chilling,' Erwin Chemerinsky, dean of the University of California Berkeley School of Law, told the Los Angeles Times. The legal issues raised by Trump sending the National Guard to L.A. (Los Angeles Times)
Yahoo
16 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Woman detained by ICE in CT city, two young children allegedly left terrified in car
New Haven Mayor Justin Elicker confirmed Wednesday that the New Haven Police Department was told that a woman from the Hill neighborhood of the city was arrested by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Elicker said they are trying to confirm that the woman was with her two children, ages 13 and 8, when the arrest by ICE occurred. 'If that is true…that is deplorable and inhumane,' Elicker said. Elicker said he has two children about those ages, who would 'lose their minds' if they saw their mother arrested in such a way. It would be 'beyond the pale,' he said. He said he was told she was getting the kids ready to go to school when the arrest occurred. Further, Elicker said, ICE did not inform the city or the Police Department that the arrest would take place, which 'creates a danger' for her, police and ICE, because the arrest could be seen as an abduction by those who did not know what was occurring. 'It puts our officers and ICE at risk,' he said. Elicker, who did not name the woman, said she had been charged in March with third-degree assault following a conflict in which she and another person suffered minor injuries. He said the case remains pending. John Lugo, an organizer with New Haven-based Unidad Latina en Accion, said the woman was taken around 8:15 a.m. on Monday morning with her two children in her car. 'The woman was taken and detained and her two traumatized children remained in the car,' Lugo said. Lugo said one of the children is autistic and keeps asking for his mother. 'He wants his mom but there is no mom. Mom is sitting in jail,' Lugo said. Lugo said both children are staying with a grandmother in the state. The grandmother is visiting from Mexico but the length of her stay in the U.S. is unclear, so Lugo and his organization are worried about the future of the children once she goes back to Mexico. CT high school's joy in graduation dimmed by classmate taken by ICE. Town hopes to get him back. Lugo said the best way the public can help is money for legal representation. He said the detained woman does not have a lawyer at this time and that all other state detainees end up in Texas. He's waiting to see if she ends up transferred to Texas, which he said would only add to the financial burden. 'That's one way to punish migrants when you have to transfer someone so far away. Being in Texas adds an additional cost. Now they need a lawyer to travel there because sometimes they aren't allowed to have video conferences,' Lugo said. Lugo said since last week there have been more people being detained without any history of felonies. 'The perfect example was the Southington car wash incident,' Lugo said. 'They were just profiled. They drove by and saw a bunch of migrants and decided to stop and detained them. That happened the same day as what happened to the women in New Haven.' 'In Southington, they just detained four people because they looked like migrants. They weren't looking for a particular person. I think it's very troubling and the hard part is seeing the kids crying and being traumatized,' he added. 'Due process is not there anymore.' The reason for the Southington arrest has not been confirmed by authorities. Lugo said since the start of President Donald Trump's second term, people in his community are scared. 'They are trying to figure out what to do. Many are thinking about going back to their country because this is not a safe place anymore,' Lugo said. 'It's not just the government. We see other kids at school threatening to call ICE on classmates and parents. We see landlords taking advantage. They are raising the rent and are getting them evicted. The first threat by many is: if you don't move, 'I will call ICE.'' 'I have two cases in which New Haven restaurant bosses that have told workers if you don't stop complaining about wages or raises, I'm going to call immigration on you guys. It's not just the government. This is empowering people to hate people and hate us.' Lugo said he fears that ICE is expanding and that he knows of an office that has opened in New Haven. 'We think eventually they are going to hit us hard in Connecticut just because they want to punish the state because the state has taken a stance on behalf of the migrant community,' Lugo said. The Southington and New Haven detainments by ICE are all on the heels of a Meriden high school student and his father being detained last week.
Yahoo
16 minutes ago
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ICE at Franklin Elementary? Vancouver school district says rumors aren't true
PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) – Social media posts are claiming ICE officials were spotted at Franklin Elementary School in Vancouver early this week, but district leaders say these rumors aren't true. Vancouver Public Schools sent a letter to families Monday morning to address these concerns. Anti-ICE protests escalate outside South Portland facility 'Some of the posts inaccurately claim ICE activity occurred at Franklin Elementary during the morning drop-off. We are writing to let you know that any ICE activity that may have occurred in the Franklin neighborhood did not take place on our school grounds,' the letter said. District officials said they checked the elementary school's security footage and found no activity from ICE on the campus. 'Should ICE activity occur on school grounds in the future, please know we would message our community for your awareness as we do almost every time law enforcement or first responders are unexpectedly at school,' the school said. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
