Latest news with #TennesseeLookout
Yahoo
05-08-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Trump's executive order on homelessness follows Tennessee's moves to criminalize the unhoused
David "DC" Carey, with his dog, Honey Dew, prepare to move from a Nashville homless encampment after law enforcement cleared the area in May 2025. (Photo: John Partipilo/Tennessee Lookout) Tennessee is at the forefront of making homelessness invisible, and I fear that the Trump administration's recent executive order on street homelessness will bolster the state's approach to moving unhoused Tennesseans out of sight whenever possible. Homelessness is the consequence and visible failure of housing and healthcare policies that have pushed more and more households to the brink of existence in every county – including urban, suburban and rural areas. While Tennessee's total homelessness numbers have not stood out at the national level so far, it nonetheless has become a testing ground for conservative think tanks like the Cicero Institute that lobbied state politicians to lock people away rather than house them. Consequently, Tennessee became the first state in 2022 to make camping on public property a felony. But Tennessee's legislature has not stopped there. The most recent laws targeting unhoused Tennesseans passed this year. Most notably, one law requires the Department of Transportation to develop agreements with counties for the removal of camps along highways, under bridges and overpasses. The legislature removed a $64-million fiscal note and shifted the cost for the cleanups as well as finding housing and services to local jurisdictions. Bill would let local governments set up homeless camps, order mental health treatment The Trump administration's executive order is called 'Ending Crime and Disorder on America's Streets.' It outlines a move in addressing homelessness away from housing-oriented solutions to forced civil confinements, predicated on the argument that confinement will give people the recovery services they need. The problem is that without housing, we won't end homelessness. And without funding for both housing and support services, authorities in rural Tennessee will be left with the only option of sending their unhoused constituents to the larger cities in the hope they find services there. With city shelters already full to the brink, we'll see an increase in street homelessness. Even hyped up encampment closures, like those in Nashville, won't be able to stem that tide. Studies show that putting people into institutional settings and forcing them into treatments is not effective. Simply put, if locking people up to end homelessness would work, Tennessee would already have solved street homelessness. We certainly have all the laws on the book for it. Another aspect of the complex issue is cost. While the new executive order aims to shift funding from housing programs to temporary programs including mental health facilities, a quick cost comparison seems to support my belief that we will serve fewer people with these forced confinements and treatments. I recently looked at the per diem cost of jail versus an inpatient psychiatric bed and compared it to a permanent supportive housing program for people with severe and persistent mental illness and/or substance use disorders. A jail stay in Davidson County costs about $115 per night. An in-patient psychiatric bed at East Tennessee Behavioral Health has a per diem cost ranging from $675 to $2,500. A supportive housing bed with intensive case management for people with mental illness and/or substance use issues, run by nonprofits specialized in housing people experiencing homelessness in Tennessee, costs about $80 per day. On the surface, all of these policies, laws and executive orders may sound reasonable to anyone who is comfortably housed and actually cares about their unhoused neighbors. But to advocates like me, these policies are putting bigger targets on people who already have fallen through our safety nets. Knoxville, Memphis, and Chattanooga actually showed a double-digit reduction in homelessness between 2022 and 2024 through their housing-focused approach. Nashville's encampment closure strategy did not show the same results. Bill to hold charities liable for providing housing to certain immigrants heads to governor's desk But rural counties are left to fend for themselves as homelessness becomes more visible. Grundy County officials struggle with homeless encampments hidden in the woods. Since COVID, Maury County has seen a tremendous increase in street homelessness. And this past January, volunteers in Cheatham County conducted the first outdoor homelessness count, which was eye-opening for government and faith leaders who believed there was no street homelessness in their county. Rural homelessness used to be less visible as people stayed in cars, campers and dilapidated housing without electricity or plumbing. In recent years, however, outdoor homelessness has increased and become more visible. The people seen in our rural counties are from the community they still live in and are connected to the people who work there, which makes it hard for local authorities tasked to arrest them and force them into criminal or civil confinements. So what can local governments do? In my opinion, local leaders should take a regional approach to homelessness and ask state legislators to stop what essentially boils down to Band-id approaches by criminalizing homelessness and forced treatment. Instead, a regional approach that is led by rural county and rural city officials could convince the legislature to invest in funding for: Street outreach teams that consist of health and mental health professionals as well as social workers to assist people where they are while helping them access housing and then continue to offer recovery services once they are in housing; and The creation of a state-funded rental assistance demonstration program that is co-designed by cities and counties to help prevent and end homelessness in rural areas. State departments, specifically the Tennessee Housing Development Agency and the Tennessee Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services, already have experience in similar federally funded programs and easily could help rural communities develop these approaches. Tennessee could become a national model for making homelessness invisible permanently – by investing in people rather than in facilities that will only offer a stopgap measure to move the poorest Tennesseans out of sight in the short-term. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX Solve the daily Crossword
Yahoo
02-07-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Tennessee Lookout claims 14 awards in Tennessee Press Association contest
The Tennessee Lookout won 14 awards in the annual University of Tennessee - Tennessee Press Association awards. (Photo: J. Holly McCall) The Tennessee Lookout took home 14 awards — including two first-place finishes — in the 2025 University of Tennessee – Tennessee Press Association contest, which recognizes the top journalism in the state. The winners — selected from 1,113 entries from 71 news outlets — were announced Saturday at the Tri-State Press Convention in Memphis. Tennessee Lookout reporter Sam Stockard won first place in Best Personal Humor column for his 'Stockard on the Stump' weekly column, in which he writes about the inside baseball of Volunteer State politics. Lookout Editor-in-Chief Holly McCall earned a first-place award for Best Single Editorial for her May 14, 2024 column. Part of the nonprofit States Newsroom network, with news outlets and news partnerships to cover state government in all 50 states, the Lookout celebrated its five-year anniversary on May 6. The Lookout's six-person team competed in the large newsroom division, squaring off with the largest and longest-running news outlets in the state. To sign up for the Lookout's free morning newsletter, go to or to donate to continue to support its award-winning work, go to Here is the full rundown of the Tennessee Lookout awards: Best Personal Humor Column Stockard on the Stump: Get ready to learn the Earth is 6,000 years old Sam Stockard Best Single Editorial Editor's notebook: Gushy Mother's Day posts from Tennessee lawmakers don't reflect reality J. Holly McCall Public Service Water wars: conservation groups call for protections of Duck River as water withdrawals become 'unsustainable' Cassandra Stephenson, Anita Wadhwani, John Partipilo Investigative Reporting Legislature considers developer-backed bill to strip protections from West Tennessee wetlands Anita Wadhwani, Adam Friedman Best Education Reporting 'Literally heartbreaking as a librarian': 150 titles pulled from Rutherford County school libraries Anita Wadhwani Best Editorial Section Bruce Barry, J. Holly McCall, Jim O'Hara Best Graphics/Illustrations John Cole's Tennessee John Cole Best Single Editorial Same old Vanderbilt J. Holly McCall Best Sports Coverage Gov. Lee makes pitch to bring Super Bowl to new Titans stadium, NFL commissioner plays coy Sam Stockard Best News Photograph State troopers remove mother from Senate gallery John Partipilo Best Personal Column 1968 and a crazy, raging Chicago Bo Roberts Headline writing Sam Stockard, J. Holly McCall Best single feature As climate threat to agriculture mount, could the Mississippi River delta be the next California? Cassandra Stephenson, Illan Ireland, Phillip Powell Best Personal Humor Column Dr. Who and the Orange Blob Mark Harmon SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE
Yahoo
13-06-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
DHS Agent Makes Damning Confession on Timeline in Abrego Garcia Case
The Department of Homeland Security admitted to scrounging around for dirt on Kilmar Abrego Garcia only after he was wrongfully deported to a notorious prison in El Salvador. Freshly returned from a Salvadoran prison, Abrego Garcia attended an arraignment hearing in Nashville Friday, where he pleaded not guilty to two charges related to illegally transporting undocumented immigrants for cash. The charges stemmed from an investigation into a 2022 traffic stop in Tennessee, where Abrego Garcia was discovered in a car with several Hispanic men who did not possess identification. During the hearing Friday, one DHS agent revealed that he was only asked to look into Abrego Garcia's case on April 28 of this year, according to Tennessee Lookout's Anita Wadhwani. That's more than a month after Abrego Garcia was sent to a notorious Salvadoran prison, and a week after Senator Chris Van Hollen traveled to El Salvador to recover his kidnapped constituent, boosting the story's profile to the national level. That was also a full week after White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt claimed, seemingly out of nowhere and without providing any evidence, that Abrego Garcia had 'engaged in human trafficking.' Last week, after months of claiming that Abrego Garcia would never return to the United States despite being deported over an 'administrative error,' Attorney General Pam Bondi announced his return and made several other allegations against Abrego Garcia that were not included in the indictment. Since accidentally sending Abrego Garcia abroad, the Trump administration has been intent on smearing him any way it can, repeatedly alleging an affiliation to the transnational MS-13 gang based on thin evidence and even falsely claiming he was a convicted criminal. Bondi said that if Abrego Garcia is convicted, the government plans to return him to El Salvador after he completes his sentence, once again violating a judge's order preventing his removal.
Yahoo
13-06-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Kilmar Abrego Garcia's wife shares message ahead of hearing: ‘Continue fighting … God is with us'
Jennifer Vasquez Sura, in black dress, wife of Kilmar Abrego Garcia, is embraced by friends and supporters before speaking at First Lutheran Church in Nashville before Abrego Garcia's June 13 arraignment on federal trafficking charges. (Photo: John Partipilo/Tennessee Lookout) NASHVILLE, Tenn. — The wife of Kilmar Abrego Garcia — a Salvadoran native who was wrongfully deported to an El Salvador prison as part of the Trump administration's immigration crackdown — shared a message from him with a crowd gathered at a downtown Nashville church ahead of his arraignment Friday morning: 'Continue fighting, and I will be victorious because God is with us.' About two blocks down the street, Abrego Garcia awaited his arraignment in federal court on criminal 'alien smuggling' charges and a hearing to determine whether he will continue to be detained until trial. Speaking to a crowd of immigrant rights advocates, union leaders and clergy, Jennifer Vasquez Sura said Thursday marked exactly three months since 'the administration abducted and disappeared my husband and separated him from our family.' It also marked the first time she was able to see him — albeit through a video screen. Hundreds of miles away, their son, Kilmar Jr., was in Maryland at his kindergarten graduation, she said. 'Our family should have never been in this situation,' she said, her voice choking with emotion. 'We should be with our children. Me and Kilmar's mind is here in Tennessee, but my heart is in Maryland with my kids … My son is alone on his big day, and I'm here fighting for my husband, for his dad, to come back home.' Abrego Garcia — a 29-year-old Salvadoran native living in Maryland, union sheet metal worker and father of three — was driving home with his five-year-old son when he was pulled over in March. He was detained and mistakenly deported to a notorious Salvadoran prison under allegations of membership in the MS-13 criminal gang. His family says they are false. A court order from 2019 expressly prohibited his deportation to El Salvador, where he fears persecution. The El Salvador government returned Abrego Garcia to the United States in June to face a grand jury indictment in Tennessee for one count of 'conspiracy to unlawfully transport illegal aliens for financial gain' and one count of 'unlawful transportation of illegal aliens for financial gain' between 2016 and 2025. The indictment was issued May 21 but remained sealed until June 6. The charges are tied to a traffic stop by the Tennessee Highway Patrol in November 2022, when Abrego Garcia was pulled over for speeding about 80 miles east of Nashville while driving an SUV with nine Hispanic men. No charges were filed at the time, but prosecutors now allege that the stop involved smuggling migrants within the United States. Vasquez Sura said Abrego Garcia spoke of faith and gratitude. 'To everyone who continues to support Kilmar and the fight for justice, Kilmar says, 'Thank you from the bottom of my heart. God has put us in this path together for a reason. He knows why He does it and what He does, and there's always a reason we have all come together at this moment,' Vasquez Sura said. 'Kilmar shares that he feels God's presence with him, as only God knows the darkness he has faced in these past three months,' she said. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX
Yahoo
10-06-2025
- Yahoo
Federal prosecutors in Nashville ask judge to keep Abrego Garcia detained until trial
A U.S. Department of Homeland Security officer stood watch at the rear of the Fred D. Thompson Federal Building as Kilmar Abrego Garcia was brought to Tennessee on criminal charges. (Photo by John Partipilo/Tennessee Lookout) Federal prosecutors on Monday detailed legal arguments for the detention until trial of Kilmar Abrego Garcia, the Salvadoran man mistakenly deported by the Trump administration. Abrego Garcia was returned to Nashville from El Salvador on Friday to face two criminal human smuggling charges tied to a 2022 Tennessee traffic stop. He appeared briefly in a downtown Nashville courtroom late Friday, and is scheduled to return to court this Friday for a formal arraignment of the charges against him. That hearing will also consider a motion by the Justice Department to keep Abrego Garcia in custody until the date of his trial, which has not yet been set. A federal grand jury indictment issued under seal May 21 and made public June 6 charges Abrego Garcia with 'conspiracy to unlawfully transport illegal aliens for financial gain' and 'unlawful transportation of illegal aliens for financial gain.' Wrongly deported Maryland man Abrego Garcia returned to U.S. Abrego Garcia 'knowingly and unlawfully transported thousands of undocumented aliens' for profit between 2016 and 2025 as a member of the MS-13 gang, prosecutors said. Dumaka Shabazz, a federal public defender appointed to represent Garcia in the criminal case, declined comment on the charges Monday. 'At this date, we are not inclined to give a statement,' Shabazz said via email. The criminal charges stem from a November 2022 traffic stop in Putnam County by the Tennessee Highway Patrol, court records show. Abrego Garcia was driving an SUV with nine Hispanic men when he was pulled over for speeding on Interstate 40 in Putnam County, about 80 miles east of Nashville, court records said. He was not charged in the incident. Prosecutors now allege that further investigation revealed the stop involved Abrego Garcia smuggling migrants within the United States illegally. Abrego Garcia faces a potentially lengthy sentence: a maximum of 10 years in prison for each person he allegedly transported. 'A stain on the Constitution': Abrego Garcia lawyers refuse to drop his case against U.S. A resident of Maryland until a prior traffic stop on March 12 this year, Abrego Garcia was dispatched within days to an El Salvador prison along with scores of other detainees. An immigrant from El Salvador, Abrego Garcia had received an immigration court order in 2019 that allowed him to reside in the United States and specifically barred the federal government from deporting him to El Salvador, where, he said, he feared gang violence. The prosecutors' memo seeking Abrego Garcia's detention until trial, filed in federal court Monday, alleges there is a 'serious risk' that Abrego Garcia 'and/or persons acting on his behalf will obstruct justice and/or intimidate the witnesses against him' should he be released from federal custody pending his trial. They also argued Abrego Garcia is a flight risk and a danger to the community. In their memo, prosecutors said they plan to raise allegations that children without legal immigration status were transported and 'used in unsafe ways' to avoid detection of Abrego Garcia's illegal smuggling activities. Abrego Garcia has not been charged with crimes involving the illegal transport of children. Prosecutors also acknowledged that, should Abrego Garcia be released pending trial, he would likely be immediately taken into the custody of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to face further proceedings in immigration court. Nevertheless, they argued that should he not be taken into ICE custody, Abrego Garcia would have an 'enormous reason to flee.' U.S. Magistrate Barbara Holmes, who presided over Friday's brief hearing, has given Abrego's attorneys until Wednesday to file a legal response. Supplemental-Memorandum-in-Support-of-Governments-Motion-for-Detention This story was originally published by Tennessee Lookout, which is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Tennessee Lookout maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Holly McCall for questions: info@
