Latest news with #FreddieO'Connell's
Yahoo
4 days ago
- General
- Yahoo
Homeland Security identifies Nashville as sanctuary city
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WKRN) — Nashville now finds itself on a list that includes Los Angeles, Chicago and a handful of states as the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) identified Music City as a sanctuary city. The list was 'created to identify sanctuary jurisdictions, which are determined by factors like compliance with federal law enforcement, information restrictions, and legal protections for illegal aliens,' according to DHS. Metro Nashville appears to quietly remove names from immigration report following GOP criticism The determination by DHS could lead to a felony charge because there is a Tennessee law that criminalizes sanctuary city policies. DHS is putting politicians on notice to comply with federal law as 'sanctuary cities protect dangerous criminal aliens from facing consequences and put law enforcement in peril.' Nashville is the only Tennessee city on the list with Shelby County as the only county to make the list. Each jurisdiction on the list will reportedly receive formal notification of its non-compliance with federal statutes. DHS is demanding these jurisdictions immediately review and revise policies to align with federal immigration laws and renew their obligation to protect American citizens. A metro document released this week detailed 35 immigration-related interactions between Metro police and federal agencies. As of Thursday, all names have been removed from the public version of the report TN congressman criticized for social media post about Nashville Community Review Board The move to make that information public is criticized by some Tennessee lawmakers. News 2 reached out to Mayor Freddie O'Connell's office for comment on the document changes and the growing controversy. We have yet to hear back. News 2 has also reached out to Metro Legal and the Tennessee Attorney General for comment on Nashville's appearance in Homeland Security's list, but there has been no response yet. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Axios
13-05-2025
- Politics
- Axios
Mayor O'Connell's office still waiting for names and charges of those detained in ICE raids
Nashville Mayor Freddie O'Connell's office continues to wait for answers from the federal government about people impacted by a sweeping immigration enforcement operation this month. Why it matters: O'Connell says the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency should be transparent about the names of those detained and the charges against them. Driving the news: Metro legal director Wally Dietz sent a letter to ICE and submitted a formal public record request for the information. Dietz says he has not heard back. What he's saying: While federal officials say the operation in Nashville was related to safety, O'Connell said during an interview Tuesday with WPLN that local officials are seeing the impact on families. "What we have seen on the ground is that they are resulting in family separation for people who are not criminals," he said. "So what is being said federally and what we know to be the case locally are not easy to reconcile. But we know we're operating only on partial information." The other side: Citing federal officials, the Daily Wire reported that the operation in Nashville resulted in 196 arrests, including 95 people who had prior criminal convictions or pending criminal charges. ICE released the names and criminal histories of five people, but didn't give full details on those detained. Zoom out: In a lengthy Facebook post on Monday, Metro Councilmember Courtney Johnston, a leading Republican in Nashville, said local officials don't have "any influence over immigration efforts."
Axios
13-05-2025
- Business
- Axios
Realtors back Mayor O'Connell on housing plan
Nashville's Realtor association will work with the city on its new Unified Housing Strategy, the organization announced last week. Why it matters: Mayor Freddie O'Connell's administration needs private sector buy-in to successfully implement the 10-year strategy to address Nashville's housing crisis. Catch up quick: Nashville needs 90,000 new homes over the next decade to keep pace with its surging growth, according to the Unified Housing Strategy report released last month. The report aims to align all Metro agencies working on housing issues and identify strategies to ease the affordability crisis. That followed the Planning Department's release of the Housing and Infrastructure Study earlier this year. That report, which was commissioned by the Metro Council, examined policy changes and investments that could help spur more housing. What they're saying:"We're encouraged to see Metro aligning policy, planning, and community input in ways that can help expand access to homeownership and housing security," Greater Nashville Realtors president Collyn Wainwright said in a press release. In addition to the Realtor association, the Community Foundation of Middle Tennessee conveyed its support for the plan after it was announced. Community Foundation CEO Hal Cato said the nonprofit organization would "lean in with our Metro partners to help create a true community coalition united by a shared determination to make an impact on this issue that is foundational to our well-being as a community."
New York Post
07-05-2025
- Politics
- New York Post
Blue city mayor says ICE arrests of dangerous criminals are not ‘focused on making us safer'
US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) conducted operations in Nashville this week, resulting in the arrests of a convicted child sex predator and an alleged gang member, but the mayor of the city said the arrests were not focused on making the city safer. The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) shared Democratic Nashville Mayor Freddie O'Connell's letter to the city about the ICE arrests. Advertisement 'Our top priority is keeping people safe, and we're deeply concerned that what appear to be federal actions are making that harder,' O'Connell wrote. 'Overnight, we understand that US Immigration and Customs Enforcement Agents detained people during enforcement actions in Middle Tennessee. As we learn more, I want to be clear: No [Metropolitan Nashville Police Department (MNPD)] personnel were involved in last night's enforcement action.' He added that the city's police department does not have federal immigration authority, nor are its members trained to conduct immigration enforcement. 4 Nashville Mayor Freddie O'Connell speaks to the crowd of CMA Fest 2024 on June 6, 2024. WireImage O'Connell also said the police department lacks access to federal immigration databases. Advertisement 'This type of federal enforcement action is not focused on making us safer and leaves people in our community fearing any interaction with law enforcement when there is a crime occurring,' he added. 'We will be seeking the names of those detained.' DHS said the Nashville operation resulted in the arrests of a convicted child sex predator, an alleged member of the violent Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua, an individual convicted of aggravated assault and multiple illegal aliens on drug charges. 4 Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents walk in front of a bus at the Department of Homeland Security's field office in Nashville after protesters gathered on May 4, 2025. REUTERS 4 An immigration protester is detained by an ICE agent during the rally against the DHS in Nashville. REUTERS Advertisement 'The Nashville Mayor should want these criminal illegal aliens off American streets,' DHS posted on X. 'Attacks and demonization of our brave law enforcement is wrong. ICE officers are now facing a 413% increase in assaults. President Trump campaigned on immigration enforcement, the American people voted for it, and DHS is delivering.' O'Connell's office did not respond to Fox News Digital's request for comment. ICE recently announced that during President Donald Trump's first 100 days of his second term, the agency arrested over 66,000 illegal immigrants and removed more than 65,000. ICE arrested 66,463 illegal immigrants and removed 65,682, including those accused of threatening public safety and national security, according to a news release from ICE. Advertisement Three in four arrests of illegal immigrants involved someone accused of committing a crime, ICE claimed. 4 Protesters raise their arms towards a bus carrying detained individuals from the field office. REUTERS The total number of ICE illegal immigrant arrests includes 2,288 alleged gang members from Tren de Aragua, MS-13, 18th Street and other gangs. Tren de Aragua and MS-13 are now listed as foreign terrorist organizations. Fox News Digital's Alexandra Koch contributed to this report.
Business Journals
25-04-2025
- Business
- Business Journals
HNTB wins bid to manage Nashville's $6.9B transit expansion
Almost two-thirds of voters endorsed Mayor Freddie O'Connell's transit expansion referendum, which carries a $3.1 billion price tag if you could snap your fingers and create everything today. Metro now wants to hire this national company, which backed the pro-transit campaign of 2024, to serve as program manager for the years-long effort. A national company has won a bid to put Nashville's multibillion-dollar transit expansion into gear. Metro has chosen HNTB to serve as program manager for Choose How You Move, the name of Mayor Freddie O'Connell's transportation program that won approval of almost two-thirds of voters in November. The selection adds another central player to the roster of officials and contractors tasked with following through on the 15-year vision O'Connell cast in his transit plan. It would cost an estimated $3.1 billion to fully create everything today in that plan — whose price tag grows to $6.9 billion over those 15 years when accounting for operating costs, inflation and interest payments on construction bonds the city will be issuing. Davidson County's sales tax increased to 9.75% as a result of the transit referendum, establishing the city's first-ever revenue dedicated to transit. Key features of the proposal include overhauls to major corridors with bus-only lanes; almost 90 miles of new or upgraded sidewalks; creation of new crosstown routes and a dozen transit centers around the county; and adding technology at 600 intersections to synchronize signals to keep traffic moving more smoothly. HNTB beat three competitors for the Metro contract, which has an initial term of five years and can be extended another five years with Metro Council approval. HNTB has a lot of experience with infrastructure design and transportation projects. The Metro officials who evaluated the bids gave the Kansas City-based company a perfect 40-out-of-40 score in the "relevant program experience" category. The company has beefed up its Nashville office in the last couple of years and just in the Southeast has worked on transit and airport projects in Atlanta, Raleigh, Orlando and Tampa. Robbie Hayes, who's based in Nashville as HNTB's Tennessee group director, served as treasurer of Nashville Moves, an independent 501(c) nonprofit that supported the pro-transit campaign of 2024. According to state campaign finance records, HNTB donated $25,000 to the Nashville Moves Action Fund, which financed the pro-transit push. The selection of HNTB, formally announced April 21, came just a few days after O'Connell revealed who he hired on his staff to serve as chief program officer for Choose How You Move. That person is Sabrina Sussman, who's relocating from Washington, D.C., after most recently serving as a senior adviser for Pete Buttigieg during his tenure as President Joe Biden's transportation secretary. The contract award is pending a 10-day period in which protests can be filed.
