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3 days ago
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Congressional committees announce investigation into Nashville Mayor
Two Congressional committees announced a federal investigation into Nashville Mayor Freddie O'Connell on May 30, accusing the mayor of obstructing a U.S. Immigrations and Customs Enforcement in the wake of a major immigration operation in early May. The Committee on Homeland Security—chaired by U.S. Rep. Mark Green, R-Tennessee—and the Committee on the Judiciary of the U.S. House of Representatives, sent a letter demanding investigative materials from the mayor as part of a federal effort to conduct 'oversight of state and local jurisdictions that endanger American communities through efforts aimed at thwarting the work of federal immigration officials.' The move comes after weeks of public pressure by U.S. Rep. Andy Ogles, who held a press conference on Memorial Day weekend calling for the investigation. 'While the state of Tennessee has outlawed sanctuary policies, recent actions from your office threaten to chill immigration enforcement in the City of Nashville and Davidson County,' the letter reads. 'Accordingly, we write to request information about how your recent actions, including a directive to Nashville and Davidson County employees to disclose their communications with federal immigration officials, affects the robust enforcement of immigration law.' Until May 30, O'Connell has declined to comment on Ogles' calls for a congressional investigation. At the mayor's weekly news conference with Nashville reporters, O'Connell said his office intended to 'appropriately respond' to the requests listed in the letter from members of Congress. He also said he's not concerned about the investigation finding any wrongdoing. 'I am not particularly concerned,' O'Connell said. 'We're going to, again, respond appropriately to all inquiries. We have been guided by a full understanding of state and federal law and will continue to be.' More: What to know about how Mayor O'Connell responded to Nashville ICE operation Nashville is weeks removed from the weeklong immigration enforcement operation, during which ICE and the Tennessee Highway Patrol made 468 traffic stops and arrested nearly 200 immigrants. The ICE sweeps were concentrated in south Nashville, in neighborhoods around Nolensville Pike and Harding Place with a large population of immigrants and Latino residents. Friday's letter condemns O'Connell's public statements of opposition to the ICE operation, as well as a community charity fund that, while announced by O'Connell at a May 5 press conference, is run by a community nonprofit and does not utilize taxpayer funds. More: D.C. Republicans pile on Nashville mayor over ICE response — and imply more action in city It also expresses 'concern' about a previously standing executive order updated by O'Connell requiring city departments to report communications with federal immigration officials to the mayor's office. The order, titled Executive Order 30, isn't new — in fact, it's well over a year old, having first been issued in January 2024. But it's reemerged in the wake of the ICE operation because O'Connell amended it to allow for a shorter timeline for reporting. Regardless, the order is a key focus in the investigation. 'This Executive Order could have a chilling effect on the ability of local law enforcement to communicate freely and candidly with federal immigration employees,' the letter states, adding that there is 'real potential that your Executive Order could have the effect of diminishing ICE enforcement operations.' The letter lists three key requests for the city, all concerning documents created between May 1 and the receiving of the letter: All documents and communications referring or relating to the amendment of Executive Order 30 All documents and communications referring or relating to ICE enforcement actions in the City of Nashville or Davidson County All documents and communications 'between or among Metro employees and non-Metro employees, including but not limited to non-governmental organizations, referring or relating to the arrest of criminal aliens in the City of Nashville and Davidson County' The information is tagged with a June 13 deadline, and is signed by Chairman of the Committee on Judiciary Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, Chairman of the Subcommittee on Immigration Integrity, Security and Enforcement Tom McClintock, R-California, Ogles and Green. 'Today, with the full support of Judiciary Chairman Jim Jordan and Homeland Security Chairman Mark Green, we're taking action," said Ogles, in a press release regarding the investigation. "If Mayor O'Connell wants to spy on federal agents doing their job, then Congress is going to investigate him for obstruction.' The letter came a day after the city of Nashville was added to a federal list titled 'Sanctuary Jurisdictions Defying Federal Immigration Law,' which was posted on the Department of Homeland Security's website. There are only two 'sanctuary jurisdictions' listed in Tennessee — Nashville and Shelby County. DHS says each jurisdiction will receive formal notification of its non-compliance with federal statutes. It's not immediately clear why Nashville — or any jurisdiction in Tennessee — is included on the list, given that neither has self-identified as a sanctuary city. In Tennessee, sanctuary cities have been banned for about seven years, and another state law passed earlier this year criminalizes local officials who support sanctuary policies for immigrants. O'Connell also commented on Nashville's appearance on the list at his May 30 news conference. He passed out copies of the state law to reporters and said Nashville complies with 'every single component' of the law and, by definition, is not a sanctuary city. O'Connell added that Nashville does not have — and has never had — a policy violating the state law. He said the city has asserted over the past several weeks that it has no legal authority related to immigration enforcement and does not impede law enforcement action. 'I'm puzzled about the criteria they used to include Nashville (on the list),' O'Connell said. 'We are not and never have been a sanctuary city. If you look at the state law that defines a sanctuary city policy there are six factors, and we do not and never have had a policy that violates any of those factors. I'd be interested to learn what criteria they're using.' The USA TODAY Network - Tennessee's coverage of First Amendment issues is funded through a collaboration between the Freedom Forum and Journalism Funding Partners. Have a story to tell? Reach Angele Latham by email at alatham@ by phone at 931-623-9485, or follow her on Twitter at @angele_latham Austin Hornbostel is the Metro reporter for The Tennessean. Have a question about local government you want an answer to? Reach him at ahornbostel@ This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Congressional committees announce investigation into O'Connell, city
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5 days ago
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What to know about how Mayor O'Connell responded to Nashville ICE operation
As a weeklong U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement operation continued in south Nashville in early May, Mayor Freddie O'Connell made it clear where he stands. While ICE and the Tennessee Highway Patrol collaborated to make 468 traffic stops and arrest nearly 200 immigrants, O'Connell criticized them for causing "deep community harm." And as the sweeps continued throughout the week, O'Connell and Metro Legal Director Wally Dietz repeatedly called for transparency from ICE about who exactly had been arrested and what they'd been charged with. Ultimately, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security named six of the 196 people arrested during the sweeps. O'Connell also updated an executive order requiring city departments to report communications with federal immigration officials to the mayor's office, and addressed community and Metro Nashville Council concerns about whether the Metro Nashville Police Department was involved in the operation. It's all culminated in an investigation that's now underway at the federal level, based on a call from U.S. Rep. Andy Ogles, to determine whether the mayor had been "obstructing ICE operations." Here's what to know about how O'Connell responded to the Nashville ICE operation. Ogles has made it clear that the amended Executive Order 30 is key to his complaints. It's one of a few documents and communications he's seeking in the congressional investigation. But what does the order actually do? Executive Order 30 isn't new — in fact, it's well over a year old, having first been issued in January 2024. But it's re-emerged in the wake of the ICE operation because O'Connell amended it to allow for a shorter timeline for reporting. The order requires city departments to report communications with federal immigration authorities to the mayor's office. Emergency services departments like MNPD, the Nashville Fire Department and the Office of Emergency Management must report within one business day, while all other departments have three days to report communications "regarding an activity outside regular policies/procedures." Communications involving non-emergency departments related to modifying a department's policies or practices, meanwhile, must be reported "with sufficient time for the mayor's office to assess and respond to such proposed modifications, including seeking community input if appropriate." The executive order also requires city departments to designate one person who's responsible for collecting and transmitting immigration communications to the mayor's office, which would later be posted online for transparency. It also calls on the Department of Human Resources and Metro Legal to develop a training program for reporting immigration communications. Early on in the ICE operation, O'Connell was joined by Hal Cato, the CEO of the Community Foundation of Middle Tennessee, to announced the Belonging Fund. Cato said funds could go toward addressing childcare and transportation costs, housing assistance and food insecurity. Like the executive order, the fund has been the subject of recent scrutiny — Metro Nashville Council Member David Benton, who appeared with Ogles at a press conference on Memorial Day, has called for a state or federal audit of the fund. But the fund itself was established by the Community Foundation, not the city, and the foundation's website states that donations come solely from individual donors and private organizations. The website description further clarifies that the fund "provides financial support to nonprofit organizations offering emergency assistance to immigrants in our region during times of crisis." While announcing the fund, O'Connell said it wouldn't be intended to support immigration legal services and added that the city needed to make certain whether it could donate to the fund directly. Based on the website description — which states that "no taxpayer dollars are being used in the administration or distribution of this fund" — it appears that answer was no. Nashville's mayor has not shied away from criticism of the ICE operation, or how the U.S. Department of Homeland Security has gone about publicizing information about the people arrested during the sweeps. At an appearance with New Jersey Sen. Cory Booker, for example, O'Connell decried the ICE presence as 'unwelcome visitors from Washington D.C.' and once again demanded that law enforcement provide the names of the people arrested as part of the sweeps. He's also indicated plenty of times, including at the event with Booker, that he's been in constant communication with Dietz, the legal director, about which actions might leave him susceptible to retaliation. 'I will tell you, in America, in this moment, in my hometown, I never expected to be having to ask my legal director multiple times a week some version of the question, 'If I do this will I get arrested?'' O'Connell said earlier in May. Regarding the amended executive order, O'Connell has also previously told reporters that it was "an open question" whether it would have legally allowed the city to publicize an impending immigration operation. At a special meeting on May 7, council members learned that a federal agent contacted Nashville's Department of Emergency Communications to request extra police patrols at Nashville's ICE facility on Brick Church Park Drive ahead of the operation, but there wasn't a sufficient process in place to inform department leadership and other city offices of the impending ICE action. That informed a key criticism from Metro Nashville Council members and community members who expressed concern about whether MNPD officers were involved in ICE's operation — that if the executive order had been followed in the first place, there would've been a greater awareness among city departments ahead of the May operation. 'I don't know that there would have been considerable change, but I think instead of asking questions about what people knew, I think both (Metro Nashville Police Chief John Drake) and I would have been able to at least make sure that within departments we knew that there was an uptick in federal enforcement,' O'Connell said on May 9. As for whether other city departments have been involved, the short answer is no. During the May 7 special meeting, multiple city officials asserted that MNPD officers indeed were not involved in the ICE sweeps. That's a message O'Connell and Drake continued to share in the days following the meeting. Outside of responses from O'Connell and members of the Metro Nashville Council, Nashvillians have also been vocal. The May 7 special meeting featured a packed meeting gallery, filled with community members voicing their frustrations. A recent Vanderbilt University poll gauged community opinion on the issue of immigration, as well. A majority of respondents overall, 61%, said they'd support deporting individuals who are living in the United States illegally if they have a criminal record unrelated to their immigration status, but only 26% of respondents said the same even if an individual lacks a criminal background. Regardless of criminal status, a much larger share of Republicans supported deportations in both cases, at 87% and 70% respectively. Democrat respondents, meanwhile, supported deportations for undocumented immigrants with a criminal background at a rate of 46%, and only 9% for those with no criminal background. In the poll, the highest share of respondents overall — 43% — said Nashville should actively resist efforts by the federal government to carry out deportations. The next highest share of 35% of respondents said cities like Nashville should do nothing and allow the federal government to enforce federal laws, and the smallest group of 22% of respondents said Nashville should actively assist efforts by the federal government to carry out deportations. Democrats and Republicans responded with a similar share to the dueling questions of supporting or resisting immigration efforts — 62% of Democrat respondents said the city should resist federal deportation efforts, compared to just 6% of Republicans, and 61% of Republican respondents said the city should help the federal government, compared to just 6% of Democrats. Austin Hornbostel is the Metro reporter for The Tennessean. Have a question about local government you want an answer to? Reach him at ahornbostel@ Get Davidson County news delivered to your inbox every Wednesday. This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: What to know about how mayor responded to Nashville ICE operation
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5 days ago
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What to know about how Mayor O'Connell responded to Nashville ICE operation
As a weeklong U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement operation continued in south Nashville in early May, Mayor Freddie O'Connell made it clear where he stands. While ICE and the Tennessee Highway Patrol collaborated to make 468 traffic stops and arrest nearly 200 immigrants, O'Connell criticized them for causing "deep community harm." And as the sweeps continued throughout the week, O'Connell and Metro Legal Director Wally Dietz repeatedly called for transparency from ICE about who exactly had been arrested and what they'd been charged with. Ultimately, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security named six of the 196 people arrested during the sweeps. O'Connell also updated an executive order requiring city departments to report communications with federal immigration officials to the mayor's office, and addressed community and Metro Nashville Council concerns about whether the Metro Nashville Police Department was involved in the operation. It's all culminated in an investigation that's now underway at the federal level, based on a call from U.S. Rep. Andy Ogles, to determine whether the mayor had been "obstructing ICE operations." Here's what to know about how O'Connell responded to the Nashville ICE operation. Ogles has made it clear that the amended Executive Order 30 is key to his complaints. It's one of a few documents and communications he's seeking in the congressional investigation. But what does the order actually do? Executive Order 30 isn't new — in fact, it's well over a year old, having first been issued in January 2024. But it's re-emerged in the wake of the ICE operation because O'Connell amended it to allow for a shorter timeline for reporting. The order requires city departments to report communications with federal immigration authorities to the mayor's office. Emergency services departments like MNPD, the Nashville Fire Department and the Office of Emergency Management must report within one business day, while all other departments have three days to report communications "regarding an activity outside regular policies/procedures." Communications involving non-emergency departments related to modifying a department's policies or practices, meanwhile, must be reported "with sufficient time for the mayor's office to assess and respond to such proposed modifications, including seeking community input if appropriate." The executive order also requires city departments to designate one person who's responsible for collecting and transmitting immigration communications to the mayor's office, which would later be posted online for transparency. It also calls on the Department of Human Resources and Metro Legal to develop a training program for reporting immigration communications. Early on in the ICE operation, O'Connell was joined by Hal Cato, the CEO of the Community Foundation of Middle Tennessee, to announced the Belonging Fund. Cato said funds could go toward addressing childcare and transportation costs, housing assistance and food insecurity. Like the executive order, the fund has been the subject of recent scrutiny — Metro Nashville Council Member David Benton, who appeared with Ogles at a press conference on Memorial Day, has called for a state or federal audit of the fund. But the fund itself was established by the Community Foundation, not the city, and the foundation's website states that donations come solely from individual donors and private organizations. The website description further clarifies that the fund "provides financial support to nonprofit organizations offering emergency assistance to immigrants in our region during times of crisis." While announcing the fund, O'Connell said it wouldn't be intended to support immigration legal services and added that the city needed to make certain whether it could donate to the fund directly. Based on the website description — which states that "no taxpayer dollars are being used in the administration or distribution of this fund" — it appears that answer was no. Nashville's mayor has not shied away from criticism of the ICE operation, or how the U.S. Department of Homeland Security has gone about publicizing information about the people arrested during the sweeps. At an appearance with New Jersey Sen. Cory Booker, for example, O'Connell decried the ICE presence as 'unwelcome visitors from Washington D.C.' and once again demanded that law enforcement provide the names of the people arrested as part of the sweeps. He's also indicated plenty of times, including at the event with Booker, that he's been in constant communication with Dietz, the legal director, about which actions might leave him susceptible to retaliation. 'I will tell you, in America, in this moment, in my hometown, I never expected to be having to ask my legal director multiple times a week some version of the question, 'If I do this will I get arrested?'' O'Connell said earlier in May. Regarding the amended executive order, O'Connell has also previously told reporters that it was "an open question" whether it would have legally allowed the city to publicize an impending immigration operation. At a special meeting on May 7, council members learned that a federal agent contacted Nashville's Department of Emergency Communications to request extra police patrols at Nashville's ICE facility on Brick Church Park Drive ahead of the operation, but there wasn't a sufficient process in place to inform department leadership and other city offices of the impending ICE action. That informed a key criticism from Metro Nashville Council members and community members who expressed concern about whether MNPD officers were involved in ICE's operation — that if the executive order had been followed in the first place, there would've been a greater awareness among city departments ahead of the May operation. 'I don't know that there would have been considerable change, but I think instead of asking questions about what people knew, I think both (Metro Nashville Police Chief John Drake) and I would have been able to at least make sure that within departments we knew that there was an uptick in federal enforcement,' O'Connell said on May 9. As for whether other city departments have been involved, the short answer is no. During the May 7 special meeting, multiple city officials asserted that MNPD officers indeed were not involved in the ICE sweeps. That's a message O'Connell and Drake continued to share in the days following the meeting. Outside of responses from O'Connell and members of the Metro Nashville Council, Nashvillians have also been vocal. The May 7 special meeting featured a packed meeting gallery, filled with community members voicing their frustrations. A recent Vanderbilt University poll gauged community opinion on the issue of immigration, as well. A majority of respondents overall, 61%, said they'd support deporting individuals who are living in the United States illegally if they have a criminal record unrelated to their immigration status, but only 26% of respondents said the same even if an individual lacks a criminal background. Regardless of criminal status, a much larger share of Republicans supported deportations in both cases, at 87% and 70% respectively. Democrat respondents, meanwhile, supported deportations for undocumented immigrants with a criminal background at a rate of 46%, and only 9% for those with no criminal background. In the poll, the highest share of respondents overall — 43% — said Nashville should actively resist efforts by the federal government to carry out deportations. The next highest share of 35% of respondents said cities like Nashville should do nothing and allow the federal government to enforce federal laws, and the smallest group of 22% of respondents said Nashville should actively assist efforts by the federal government to carry out deportations. Democrats and Republicans responded with a similar share to the dueling questions of supporting or resisting immigration efforts — 62% of Democrat respondents said the city should resist federal deportation efforts, compared to just 6% of Republicans, and 61% of Republican respondents said the city should help the federal government, compared to just 6% of Democrats. Austin Hornbostel is the Metro reporter for The Tennessean. Have a question about local government you want an answer to? Reach him at ahornbostel@ Get Davidson County news delivered to your inbox every Wednesday. This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: What to know about how mayor responded to Nashville ICE operation
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5 days ago
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D.C. Republicans pile on Nashville mayor over ICE response — and imply more action in city
Republicans in Washington are piling on Nashville Mayor Freddie O'Connell in the wake of scrutiny from U.S. Rep. Andy Ogles, who's asked to initiate Congressional investigations into the mayor's response to a recent U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement operation in Nashville. After Ogles — flanked by several state lawmakers and Metro Nashville Council Member David Benton — reasserted a previous call to investigate O'Connell during a Memorial Day news conference, an official with the Trump administration is now weighing in. Tom Homan, the White House's executive associate director of enforcement and removal operations or 'border czar,' appeared on Fox News on May 27 to criticize O'Connell. 'I've said from day one — you can not cooperate with ICE if that's what you want to do, but you can't get in our way and you can't impede our efforts,' Homan said. 'If you cross that line, we'll seek prosecution.' Those comments stem from the mayor's Executive Order 30, which lays out a process and timeline for city departments to report communications with federal immigration authorities to the mayor's office. O'Connell amended the executive order in the middle of a weeklong ICE operation in Nashville in early May, adjusting the timeline so that the mayor's office is notified within one business day rather than within several. Homan also seemed to point toward another escalation in immigration enforcement in Nashville, saying he would 'flood the zone' with agencies including the FBI, the Drug Enforcement Administration, ICE and U.S. Marshals. 'If he wants to push back and support sanctuary cities, that means we 'flood the zone,'' Homan continued. 'We'll flood the zone in the neighborhoods to find the bad guy, we'll flood the zone at work sites to find the bad guy, but we're going to do it and he's not going to stop us.' Nashville is not a sanctuary city, nor is any city in the state of Tennessee. In fact, sanctuary cities are banned outright in Tennessee and have been for about seven years. The Tennessee legislature passed another law during a special session at the start of 2025 that, in part, criminalizes local officials who support sanctuary policies for immigrants. Asked whether O'Connell would be charged with obstructing ICE officials, Homan said, 'We'll see.' Homan confirmed the congressional investigation Ogles has called for and said he 'cannot confirm or deny' if ICE is also investigating O'Connell. Homan added that he planned to come to Nashville himself 'in the near future' and said he'd be open to meeting with O'Connell. During the appearance, Homan was also briefly critical of The Belonging Fund, which was established in the midst of the Nashville ICE operation to provide financial support to nonprofit organizations offering emergency assistance to immigrant families. That fund is not city-run but instead facilitated by the Community Foundation of Middle Tennessee, which notes on its website that donations to the fund are made possible solely by individual donors and private organizations, meaning no government contributions are included. Benton, the Metro Nashville Council member, called for a state or federal audit of the fund during his Memorial Day appearance with Ogles. On May 28, the Metro Nashville Council's Immigrant Caucus issued a news release condemning Benton's remarks on Memorial Day, calling them "racist propaganda," "inaccurate" and "inflammatory." The caucus also called for Benton, who represents part of Antioch where the ICE sweeps were focused, to resign. 'Councilmember Benton does not deserve to hold public office,' the release reads. 'His conduct and comments are unbecoming of an elected official, particularly one representing a district with a significant Latino population.' In an additional statement provided to The Tennessean, the Immigrant Caucus also backed O'Connell and other local leaders who have come out in support of Nashville's immigrant population. "It's clear that this fight will not be over anytime soon and so there is much more that needs to be done to support our immigrant neighbors," the statement reads. "The attacks against our neighbors and Nashville leaders is founded in an ideology that essentially says 'if you stand with brown people you are a criminal.'" The mayor's office has a history of publicizing Community Foundation funds established to respond to particular events or crises, like the Nashville School Violence Support & Healing Fund created to support victims of the January 2025 Antioch High shooting. O'Connell, for his part, repeatedly stated during the operation that the amended executive order likely wouldn't have changed the city's response in any way, nor would it have empowered the city to share details publicly on a looming immigration enforcement operation beyond communications between city departments. O'Connell's office had not responded to The Tennessean's request for comment by early afternoon on May 28. O'Connell has previously declined to comment on Ogles' earlier calls for an investigation. Rep. Andy Biggs (R-Ariz.), a member of the House Oversight and Judiciary committees, also made an appearance on Fox News to criticize O'Connell on May 28, albeit more briefly than Homan. Biggs called the executive order 'outrageous' and said it incentivizes people to 'not cooperate with ICE.' Biggs said that makes ICE operations 'more dangerous' for both federal agents and neighborhoods, since 'ICE is going to have to go into those neighborhoods' to find people that, purportedly, are 'hiding out there.' 'It's actually going to result in more arrests and deportations because if they get there and there's a bad guy and they happen to be with people that we wouldn't even be looking at, they're going to get arrested as well if they're illegally in the country,' Biggs said. Austin Hornbostel is the Metro reporter for The Tennessean. Have a question about local government you want an answer to? Reach him at ahornbostel@ Get Davidson County news delivered to your inbox every Wednesday. This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: D.C. Republicans pile on Nashville mayor, imply more ICE action
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5 days ago
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D.C. Republicans pile on Nashville mayor over ICE response — and imply more action in city
Republicans in Washington are piling on Nashville Mayor Freddie O'Connell in the wake of scrutiny from U.S. Rep. Andy Ogles, who's asked to initiate Congressional investigations into the mayor's response to a recent U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement operation in Nashville. After Ogles — flanked by several state lawmakers and Metro Nashville Council Member David Benton — reasserted a previous call to investigate O'Connell during a Memorial Day news conference, an official with the Trump administration is now weighing in. Tom Homan, the White House's executive associate director of enforcement and removal operations or 'border czar,' appeared on Fox News on May 27 to criticize O'Connell. 'I've said from day one — you can not cooperate with ICE if that's what you want to do, but you can't get in our way and you can't impede our efforts,' Homan said. 'If you cross that line, we'll seek prosecution.' Those comments stem from the mayor's Executive Order 30, which lays out a process and timeline for city departments to report communications with federal immigration authorities to the mayor's office. O'Connell amended the executive order in the middle of a weeklong ICE operation in Nashville in early May, adjusting the timeline so that the mayor's office is notified within one business day rather than within several. Homan also seemed to point toward another escalation in immigration enforcement in Nashville, saying he would 'flood the zone' with agencies including the FBI, the Drug Enforcement Administration, ICE and U.S. Marshals. 'If he wants to push back and support sanctuary cities, that means we 'flood the zone,'' Homan continued. 'We'll flood the zone in the neighborhoods to find the bad guy, we'll flood the zone at work sites to find the bad guy, but we're going to do it and he's not going to stop us.' Nashville is not a sanctuary city, nor is any city in the state of Tennessee. In fact, sanctuary cities are banned outright in Tennessee and have been for about seven years. The Tennessee legislature passed another law during a special session at the start of 2025 that, in part, criminalizes local officials who support sanctuary policies for immigrants. Asked whether O'Connell would be charged with obstructing ICE officials, Homan said, 'We'll see.' Homan confirmed the congressional investigation Ogles has called for and said he 'cannot confirm or deny' if ICE is also investigating O'Connell. Homan added that he planned to come to Nashville himself 'in the near future' and said he'd be open to meeting with O'Connell. During the appearance, Homan was also briefly critical of The Belonging Fund, which was established in the midst of the Nashville ICE operation to provide financial support to nonprofit organizations offering emergency assistance to immigrant families. That fund is not city-run but instead facilitated by the Community Foundation of Middle Tennessee, which notes on its website that donations to the fund are made possible solely by individual donors and private organizations, meaning no government contributions are included. Benton, the Metro Nashville Council member, called for a state or federal audit of the fund during his Memorial Day appearance with Ogles. On May 28, the Metro Nashville Council's Immigrant Caucus issued a news release condemning Benton's remarks on Memorial Day, calling them "racist propaganda," "inaccurate" and "inflammatory." The caucus also called for Benton, who represents part of Antioch where the ICE sweeps were focused, to resign. 'Councilmember Benton does not deserve to hold public office,' the release reads. 'His conduct and comments are unbecoming of an elected official, particularly one representing a district with a significant Latino population.' The mayor's office has a history of publicizing Community Foundation funds established to respond to particular events or crises, like the Nashville School Violence Support & Healing Fund created to support victims of the January 2025 Antioch High shooting. O'Connell, for his part, repeatedly stated during the operation that the amended executive order likely wouldn't have changed the city's response in any way, nor would it have empowered the city to share details publicly on a looming immigration enforcement operation beyond communications between city departments. O'Connell's office had not responded to The Tennessean's request for comment by early afternoon on May 28. O'Connell has previously declined to comment on Ogles' earlier calls for an investigation. Rep. Andy Biggs (R-Ariz.), a member of the House Oversight and Judiciary committees, also made an appearance on Fox News to criticize O'Connell on May 28, albeit more briefly than Homan. Biggs called the executive order 'outrageous' and said it incentivizes people to 'not cooperate with ICE.' Biggs said that makes ICE operations 'more dangerous' for both federal agents and neighborhoods, since 'ICE is going to have to go into those neighborhoods' to find people that, purportedly, are 'hiding out there.' 'It's actually going to result in more arrests and deportations because if they get there and there's a bad guy and they happen to be with people that we wouldn't even be looking at, they're going to get arrested as well if they're illegally in the country,' Biggs said. Austin Hornbostel is the Metro reporter for The Tennessean. Have a question about local government you want an answer to? Reach him at ahornbostel@ Get Davidson County news delivered to your inbox every Wednesday. This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: D.C. Republicans pile on Nashville mayor, imply more ICE action
