Latest news with #FreddieOConnell
Yahoo
3 days ago
- General
- Yahoo
‘We do comply with the law': Nashville mayor responds to investigation into his office
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WKRN) — Nashville Mayor Freddie O'Connell responded Friday to Republicans' claims that the city put Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents in danger by sharing their names in a recent report. That document detailed 35 immigration-related interactions between the Metro Nashville Police Department and federal agencies. Nashville criticized for sharing ICE interactions O'Connell said at press conference on Friday, May 30 that it was never the city's intent to make those names public. The information was included in a report created under an executive order that requires Metro employees to let the mayor's office know if they interact with ICE. According to O'Connell, as soon as the names were found, they were immediately scrubbed. 'We've had a training process, and I will say our Metro Nashville Police Department has been very effective in this. We will be reviewing not just how that information is recorded as it comes into publicly available processes, but also then what does get posted,' he explained. 'The interest here is just in transparency. It is not in obstruction or doing anything that would be considered harmful.' Some Republicans have accused O'Connell of putting ICE and Homeland Security Investigations agents in danger. They have also claimed the mayor misused federal money to stop immigration enforcement, but they haven't shared any evidence of that. Metro Nashville appears to quietly remove names from immigration report following GOP criticism O'Connell denied any wrongdoing, insisting no public funds were misused and that Metro has never interfered with ICE operations. 'Metro does not have any legal authority as it relates to immigration enforcement, and we do not impede federal law enforcement actions. In fact, we regularly partner with state and federal law enforcement agencies to take violent criminals off our streets,' O'Connell argued. 'This is the reality. We're very clear-eyed about our legal obligations, and we do comply with the law.' The Department of Homeland Security released a list on Thursday, May 29 of sanctuary jurisdictions 'that are deliberately obstructing the enforcement of federal immigration laws and endangering American citizens.' Nashville was included on that list, along with other major cities like Los Angeles, Denver, and Chicago, as well as Tennessee's Shelby County. However, if Nashville was a sanctuary city, it would be a felony under Tennessee law. 'An embarrassment': Tennessee House Republican reacts to Nashville's sanctuary city label by DHS O'Connell said Nashville does not follow sanctuary city policies: 'I'm puzzled about what criteria they used to include Nashville. As I said at the beginning, 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.' Meanwhile, U.S. Rep. Andy Ogles (R-Tenn.) posted on social media Friday that the federal investigation into the Nashville mayor's office, connected to this month's ICE operation, has begun. Ogles included a letter from two House committees demanding O'Connell turn over documents to Congress by June 12. O'Connell said his office would provide any requested documents to investigators. 'I am not particularly concerned. We're going to, again, respond appropriately to all inquiries, and we have been guided by a full understanding of state and federal law and will continue to be,' he concluded. Ogles claims federal investigation into Nashville mayor has begun U.S. Sen. Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.) also announced Friday that she sent a letter to U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi formally requesting the U.S. Department of Justice launch an investigation into the actions of O'Connell and his office for 'attempting to undermine' President Donald Trump and ICE 'in their work to make Tennessee communities safer by arresting illegal aliens and getting dangerous criminals off the streets.' You can read Blackburn's full letter by clicking here. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Fox News
4 days ago
- General
- Fox News
SCOOP: Top congressional committees launch probe into Nashville mayor accused of blocking ICE
FIRST ON FOX: Two powerful committees in the House of Representatives are opening an investigation into another Democratic official accused of blocking federal immigration authorities. House Homeland Security Committee Chair Mark Green, R-Tenn., is leading a probe into Nashville Mayor Freddie O'Connell alongside Nashville-area Rep. Andy Ogles, R-Tenn, Fox News Digital learned Friday. Ogles had been petitioning leaders for weeks to look into O'Connell after the Democratic leader publicly denounced Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (ICE) operations in his city and signed an executive order aimed at tracking ICE movements in the area. The probe is being supported by the House Judiciary Committee, which is led by Chair Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, and Rep. Tom McClintock, R-Calif., chair of the subcommittee for immigration enforcement. "The Committee on the Judiciary and the Committee on Homeland Security of the U.S. House of Representatives are conducting oversight of state and local jurisdictions that endanger American communities through efforts aimed at thwarting the work of federal immigration officials," the four leaders wrote in a letter to O'Connell. "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. 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." The lawmakers said O'Connell's executive order, which mandated that government employees report interactions with federal immigration authorities, "could have a chilling effect on the ability of local law enforcement to communicate freely and candidly with federal immigration employees." "In fact, your chief lawyer recently admitted that it was an 'open question' whether an individual could legally 'announce in advance that there's an impending enforcement activity,'" they wrote. "This statement, when viewed in context of your order requiring all Metro law-enforcement officers to report about communications with ICE personnel, raises the prospect that Metro employees may use nonpublic information to warn criminal aliens of planned ICE enforcement operations. In other words, there is the real potential that your Executive Order could have the effect of diminishing ICE enforcement operations." It comes after ICE agents working with the Tennessee Highway Patrol arrested nearly 200 people the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) said were illegal immigrants – many of them criminals with gang affiliations or other sordid pasts. The DHS news release targeted O'Connell by name over comments he made in early May. "What's clear today is that people who do not share our values of safety and community have the authority to cause deep community harm." After the arrests, O'Connell signed an executive order aimed at tracking peoples' interactions with federal immigration authorities, according to WSMV4. He said of ICE's work in his city, "It's important for us to get this right, and it's very frustrating to see a failure in the process." O'Connell also helped launch the Nashville government's nonprofit, "The Belonging Fund," to help illegal immigrants pay for urgent care needs. The fund's website states that "donations to the fund are made possible solely by individual donors and private organizations - no government dollars are included. That means no taxpayer dollars are being used in the administration or distribution of this fund." Republicans, however, have questioned whether that is true. "The recipients of these funds are untraceable, and the purpose seems crystal clear: help illegal foreigners evade the law," Ogles told Fox News Digital. "I refuse to sit back while our communities are overrun — while our neighborhoods are destroyed and our daughters are assaulted. And I doubly refuse to stay silent while blue city mayors aid and abet this invasion." O'Connell is now one of several Democratic leaders locked in an immigration fight with the Trump administration. House Rep. LaMonica McIver, D-N.J., was charged by the Justice Department with assaulting an officer after she and two other House Democrats forced their way into a Newark ICE detention center, charges McIver has dismissed as political. Fox News Digital reached out to the Nashville mayor's office for comment on the letter.
Forbes
4 days ago
- General
- Forbes
Andy Ogles Discusses Calling For House Investigations Into Nashville Mayor Critical Of ICE Operations
After ICE arrested close to 200 people in Nashville earlier this month, Congressman Andy Ogles (R-TN) called on the House Judiciary and Homeland Security Committees to investigate Nashville Mayor Freddie O'Connell, who was critical of the operation. Ogles joined "Forbes Newsroom" to discuss. Watch the full interview above.
Daily Mail
6 days ago
- General
- Daily Mail
Dem mayor accused of helping illegal immigrants escape ICE
Nashville's Democrat mayor Freddie O'Connell is under federal investigation, accused of helping illegal immigrants escape ICE. The probe has been confirmed by U.S. Rep. Andy Ogles, who explained the federal inquiry will look into whether the city used federal dollars 'in criminal enterprise' related to immigration. He believes the mayor - who is a vocal opponent of ICE raids - may have been using taxpayer dollars to block deportation efforts. 'If you're helping violent gangs destroy Tennessee by obstructing ICE — you belong behind bars,' the Republican posted online Monday. The mayor pointed out federal officials had 'shown us no proof' that those arrested in the early May operation were people 'with criminal histories or criminal intent.' The immigration sweeps took part in largely Hispanic areas of Nashville. 'We don't even know the names of who they've arrested, much less the charges,' the mayor told WKRN at the time. 'What we have seen is a violation of due process and the defiance of court orders.' The Democrat has denied any wrongdoing. He is instead pushing support for the Belonging Fund - an initiative he launched to help migrants being deported.
CNN
6 days ago
- General
- CNN
Congressman says House will investigate Nashville mayor over immigration enforcement
Republican Congressman Andy Ogles announced a congressional investigation into Nashville Mayor Freddie O'Connell, accusing him of failing to cooperate with immigration enforcement.
