Latest news with #Warbington
Yahoo
29-05-2025
- General
- Yahoo
Inside the volunteer group patrolling Nashville to look for ICE activity
In the early hours of Sunday, May 11, a group of Nashville women sat staring at an empty Tennessee State Trooper Headquarters parking lot in South Nashville. The inky darkness was interrupted only by the gentle sounds of their idling vehicles, a buzzing streetlight and the occasional owl. To many, this would be peaceful. But to these women, the silent darkness was a warning. 'They must have figured out our schedule,' said Ashley Warbington, a Nashville resident and legal professional, tapping the steering wheel as she looked at the parking lot, where there normally sat dozens of State Trooper vehicles. 'Where are they?' Behind her sat Sarah Shoop Neumann, another Nashville resident and activist, her face lit only by her phone screen. 'Maybe they're giving us a break,' she said. 'It is Mother's Day.' After a week of aggressive immigration enforcement in Nashville that saw the arrests of 196 people, most still not named publicly, Warbington and Neumann were bleary-eyed and exhausted. They, along with dozens of volunteers across Nashville, were perched in similar locations across the city—some by law enforcement facilities, some by downtown businesses, some scouring the interstates — all connected by a series of encrypted group chats that help volunteers monitor ICE activity. The group, named Music City Migra-Watch, which operates under the local immigration advocacy group called The ReMIX, existed long before the surprise immigration operation that began in Nashville on May 4. After the week of arrests and detainments, the group had exploded in volunteer numbers. Now, around 200 people are active in a volunteer effort to verify and respond to ICE activity in the area, 24 hours a day, on rotating shifts. So in the early morning hours of Mother's Day, instead of looking forward to breakfast in bed or time with their children, Warbington and Neumann sat waiting in the dark for a call for help. The U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement New Orleans Field Office announced May 13 that the weeklong immigration operation resulted in the arrest of 196 immigrants in Nashville. The agency said some had significant criminal histories, later naming five of the arrested. The remaining 191 have not been publicly identified, leaving scores of families in Tennessee with little to no paper trail to find where their loved ones were taken. The arrests were nearly all results of traffic stops initiated by the Tennessee State Highway Patrol, who had ICE agents either in the THP vehicle with them or tailing behind them, often in unmarked vehicles, volunteers working on the monitoring effort told The Tennessean. According to their accounts and video evidence provided to The Tennessean, many stops were made for tinted windows or broken headlights. In a video of a traffic stop provided to The Tennessean by Rep. Justin Jones, D-Nashville, on May 9, a THP officer who identified himself as Officer Phillips said the reason for the stop was because a car's headlight was out. When Jones asked if 'that warranted calling ICE,' the trooper replied 'No,' and added that ICE was with him. The department said fewer than 10 troopers participated in the operation. Migra-Watch's numbers are much larger. The group operates with a number of chats. One gathers social media reports of ICE activity and monitors tips sent into the Migra-Watch hotline. A second verifies information by doing more research or by flagging members in a third chat filled with volunteers ready to drive to the location at any hour of the day. The third group chat is divided geographically by Interstate 40 — currently, around 50 members of the group operate north of the interstate, and 100 operate below it. Many members are local activists, religious leaders, and relatives of immigrants and cover multiple overnight shifts each week. Once volunteers arrive at confirmed ICE activity, they video law enforcement activity. If an immigrant is detained, they try to get the immigrant's name to inform their family. Sometimes, the volunteers follow THP and ICE vehicles around town at a distance to report where law enforcement is focusing their efforts. 'One night, maybe for 20 minutes, (THP officers) knew we were following them,' Warbington said. 'They would try to lose us. They got on the interstate and got off on the next exit, circling. But in that amount of time I know that someone could have gotten pulled over, and they didn't. And that means everything to me.' The group operates within the letter of the law, according to Warbington. They know they cannot interfere with an arrest, and with the recent passage of the 25-foot buffer law in Tennessee—which goes into effect July 1— volunteers are cautious about how close they stand to law enforcement to video. Aside from specializing in bilingual legal advocacy, Warbington also has a close relative who has been working their way through the legal system to obtain their green card. 'I felt like I needed to be there to witness and to help in that way, because I was able,' she said. 'I keep trying to find the right word for what we witnessed. I don't have one. I wish I could have done more. And I carry some guilt about that.' She recounted getting the call through the hotline on the evening of May 4, when the operation started, reporting potential ICE activity. 'I was really nervous, because we had not seen anything like this,' she said. 'I did not know what to expect when I showed up. The second I got there, though, and we confirmed it was what the caller said it was, it was like I could not get the messages and the videos out to the group fast enough before I was stopped at another location.' She snapped her fingers rapidly. 'It was one, after another, after another. The stops were so fast, one after another, in small locations…They weren't even ticketing anyone, that we saw. They were off to the next one, often before the car even pulled away.' Sarah Shoop Neumann, who describes her life as 'pre-Covenant and post-Covenant,' is well known in Nashville for her activism for gun reform following the 2023 Covenant School Shooting, where one of her children was present. Over the past two years, she has been an active member of the immigration advocacy community. 'I just felt sick,' she said, describing watching the operation unfold on May 4. '(The hotline) was getting all these phone calls from worried family members who had no idea where their loved ones were taken, and we realized that we need to step up and advocate for these people. They can't do this alone.' She described one elderly woman who could not find her husband after the first wave of arrests. She was given a phone number by officers to call and locate her husband, but when she called the number, it 'didn't lead anywhere.' 'There was no real support from the people who are supposed to be our protectors of our city and our citizens,' Neumann said. The evening of May 4, there were only two volunteers on shift to verify claims south of I-40, Warbington included. 'I don't even know how many calls came into the hotline that night,' Warbington said. 'I wasn't even able to pay attention to it because it was moving so fast. I don't want to say we weren't prepared, but we weren't expecting that.' She said that she and her shift partner saw at least 10 stops each, in separate areas of town, within the span of three hours. 'We were doing our best to upload videos and text people so that word got out on social media to get people off the roads,' she said. Still, some people did not get the message. 'I cannot get the face of that gentleman as he got dragged out of the car out of my mind,' Warbington said, referring to the arrest of Nashville resident Edgardo Campos on May 10, who was arrested after being unable to produce identification other than his expired driver's license. He was transferred to a detention center in Knoxville to await deportation proceedings. The arrest sparked intense backlash from Nashville's Catholic community, who called him the 'heart' of his parish. Neumann said the adrenaline rush after witnessing such arrests was startling. 'I don't know if I would believe the things I saw if I didn't see them,' she said. 'Especially like those first couple nights we went out: you just watched them pull over person after person who looked brown. Twice we saw them pull over somebody who turned out to be Black, and they just immediately let them go…they're clearly only looking for Latinos, and trying to just get as many as possible, as fast as possible.' The Tennessee Department of Safety and Homeland Security, which oversees the THP, in a statement said it "categorically rejects any suggestion that our troopers engage in racial profiling or target individuals based on ethnicity, race, or national origin." On the evening of May 14, nearly 100 people gathered sat in the small Center for Contemplative Justice in West Nashville chanting 'I have the freedom of speech!' The statement was part of the Bystander Training program, hosted by multiple advocacy groups, including The ReMIX, which focused on understanding the constitutional rights granted to immigrants and non-immigrants. 'We are one community,' said Lhorraine London Polite, Nashville resident and founder and CEO of the nonprofit group Laurel Crowned Women. 'The attacks that are happening on our community are attacks on us all. Because if I disappear, you will feel that. And if you disappear, I will feel that. So we are going to take every measure we can to protect us all.' People at the meeting later broke off into groups to train in the advocacy groups' programs, including the Migra-Watch hotline. Warbington said this effort is part of Migra-Watch's, and ReMIX's, attempt to be ready for the next wave of immigration arrests. Volunteer members are closely monitoring immigration bills that were passed in the recent legislative session, especially one that would make it a crime to 'harbor' or conceal individuals without lawful immigration status. 'Everyone is talking about it,' Warbington said. 'I don't know if we have a plan for it.' Neumann compared the onslaught of immigration enforcement—and the efforts of the community to support those in the crosshairs—to stories of the Underground Railroad that she learned in school. 'I grew up in Ohio, and where I lived, we had all the plaques about Underground Railroad houses,' she said. 'And I've thought about who the people were that were willing to do that and help people along. What did they face? What was being said about those people at the time? Clearly they didn't care about reputation over doing the right thing. 'The things that you learn about in school that just seemed so horrific and crazy, and you think 'Wow, I can't imagine what it was like to live in that, but surely people learned their lesson.'' She sighed. 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 This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Inside the volunteer group patrolling Nashville to look for ICE activity
Yahoo
05-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Immigrant rights groups report ICE activity in Nashville, hold protest
Immigrant rights groups and community members gathered at Nashville's Immigration and Customs Enforcement office May 4 after they reported witnessing the organization make several arrests in Nashville. Ashley Warbington told The Tennessean she saw Tennessee Highway Patrol troopers collaborate with ICE agents to pull over vehicles and detain the drivers during the early morning hours of May 4. The arrests happened in the Antioch area surrounding Nolensville Pike and Harding Place. "I did see a stop on Harding Place by Tennessee Highway Patrol," Warbington said. "Behind them was two unmarked vehicles. A little bit up further, at the exact same time, was another stop that looked to be the same. ... I saw someone get detained, put in an unmarked vehicle and driven away." Both THP and ICE's Nashville office did not return requests for information. Members of the immigrant rights groups stayed outside the Nashville ICE office for at least four hours in the afternoon of May 4 awaiting more information from officials about who was detained, where they were being held and when they would be released. Multiple family members of those detained were among that group. Metro Council member Sean Parker was also at a noon news conference hosted by the advocacy groups demanding answers about the alleged THP and ICE operation. State Rep. Aftyn Behn released a statement about the reports of ICE activity. "What I've heard anecdotally is deeply disturbing," Behn said. "If THP's involvement is confirmed, it raises urgent and serious questions about THP's role and authority in detaining Nashvillians for ICE." "Dragnet operations like this do nothing to improve public safety," the statement continued. "What they do is terrorize families, disrupt lives and shatter trust between law enforcement and the communities they are supposed to serve." The Tennessee Immigrant and Refugee Rights Coalition also posted on social media about the arrests, telling anyone affected by the situation to call the resource hotline at 615-414-1030. Photojournalist Nicole Hester contributed to this report. This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Nashville immigrant rights groups demand answers after ICE activity
Yahoo
05-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Immigrant rights groups report ICE activity in Nashville, hold protest
Immigrant rights groups and community members gathered at Nashville's Immigration and Customs Enforcement office May 4 after they reported witnessing the organization make several arrests in Nashville. Ashley Warbington told The Tennessean she saw Tennessee Highway Patrol troopers collaborate with ICE agents to pull over vehicles and detain the drivers during the early morning hours of May 4. The arrests happened in the Antioch area surrounding Nolensville Pike and Harding Place. "I did see a stop on Harding Place by Tennessee Highway Patrol," Warbington said. "Behind them was two unmarked vehicles. A little bit up further, at the exact same time, was another stop that looked to be the same. ... I saw someone get detained, put in an unmarked vehicle and driven away." Both THP and ICE's Nashville office did not return requests for information. Members of the immigrant rights groups stayed outside the Nashville ICE office for at least four hours in the afternoon of May 4 awaiting more information from officials about who was detained, where they were being held and when they would be released. Multiple family members of those detained were among that group. Metro Council member Sean Parker was also at a noon news conference hosted by the advocacy groups demanding answers about the alleged THP and ICE operation. State Rep. Aftyn Behn released a statement about the reports of ICE activity. "What I've heard anecdotally is deeply disturbing," Behn said. "If THP's involvement is confirmed, it raises urgent and serious questions about THP's role and authority in detaining Nashvillians for ICE." "Dragnet operations like this do nothing to improve public safety," the statement continued. "What they do is terrorize families, disrupt lives and shatter trust between law enforcement and the communities they are supposed to serve." The Tennessee Immigrant and Refugee Rights Coalition also posted on social media about the arrests, telling anyone affected by the situation to call the resource hotline at 615-414-1030. Photojournalist Nicole Hester contributed to this report. This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Nashville immigrant rights groups demand answers after ICE activity
Yahoo
20-03-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Tennessee lawmakers push to criminalize harboring, smuggling undocumented immigrants
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WKRN) — A Tennessee bill that would make it a crime to harbor, hide, or smuggle an undocumented immigrant passed its first hurdle in the House Wednesday. The amended version of the proposed legislation would make it a Class A misdemeanor to hide an illegal immigrant, a Class E felony to hide or transport an illegal immigrant for financial gain, and a Class A felony to hide or transport an illegal immigrant under 13 years old for financial gain. The bill also expands the crime of human trafficking to include promoting the prostitution of a minor. Rep. Chris Todd (R-Madison County) told lawmakers during a House Criminal Justice Subcommittee Wednesday his bill would target dangerous, illicit industries that grew under the Biden Administration 'due to malfeasant border policies and rampant illegal immigration.' Rep. Todd said these groups take advantage of vulnerable people by trafficking and/or holding and hiding them against their will. 📧 Have breaking news come to you: → 'We do not want them in a position where, especially against their will, are in a position of being solicited or trafficked or harbored against their will for someone else's gain,' Rep. Todd said. 'We're trying to tackle that, and this is an area of the law that we've discovered is missing a piece. We're trying to close that loop so folks don't get off the hook when they're doing this.' However, Ashley Warbington, whose husband is undocumented, is worried the harboring portion of the bill could make it a crime to merely live with her husband. 'If I refuse to open up the door to ICE agents trying to separate us, will Tennessee prosecute me for protecting my family?' Warbington testified. 'I could give the example of any day of the week when we are at the house and I lock the door with my husband, but I think it goes past that. It goes with any interaction I may have in the community, with my son's friends, a school outing. I think there are so many examples where we could be at risk of violating this law if it passes,' Warbington told News 2 after the hearing. Democrats added nonprofit groups that provide housing, transportation, and other services to undocumented people are also concerned about the bill's potential impact. 'I think we're punishing people and our organizations in our community that are trying to help people who have already suffered a lot,' Rep. Gabby Salinas (D-Memphis) said. 'It hurts my heart as a Tennessean to see these organizations that are trying to do good in our community to have to use part of their budget to fight something in the courts.' However, Rep. Todd tried to assure lawmakers under the bill, these groups wouldn't be guilty for simply providing assistance. 'This creates a Class E felony offense for human smuggling, creates a Class A felony offense for aggravated human smuggling, and expands the offense of human trafficking to include promoting the prostitution of a minor. These are the kinds of things we're talking about here,' Rep. Todd said. 'I don't know any [nongovernmental organization] that is doing the right thing that would fall under that.' ⏩ The bill passed the House Criminal Justice Subcommittee 7 to 2 in a vote along party lines. The House version will move to the full House Judiciary Committee. The bill is also working through the committee process on the Senate side. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
06-03-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
'I'm not giving up until this is done:' The fight to rebuild Albany's skate park continues
ALBANY – Three months ago Alex Ranew was just an avid skater, crushed by what he felt was the wrongful demolition of the skate park that had fostered his passion for the sport. Now, he's the president of the newly formed 501(c)(3) nonprofit, Southwest Georgia Skate. He's fervently attended city meetings, he's written up petitions and proposals and he's garnered the support of a coalition of skaters and nonskaters alike who are making sure the city of Albany doesn't forget about the community's hunger for a new skate park. 'We don't want this to be something that's forgotten about and tucked away like projects have been in the past,' Ranew said. 'I feel like we're advocating for a large part of the community that's just given up because they feel like their voices are unheard.' Albany's Riverfront Skatepark was demolished during the first week of December in preparation for incoming construction on the Oglethorpe Bridge. This left a vibrant skating community with nowhere to go. Ranew and other users of the park said they were given no notice. Ranew quickly drew up a petition calling for the rebuilding of the park that now has 1,300 signatures. In January, they confronted Albany's City Commission during a work session to make the case for a new park. A group of about 30 came together to hold a community brainstorm session on what a new skate park in Albany could look like. Ranew said not only is the group advocating for a new skate park design, but also an 'Art Park' that would allow local artists to come out and showcase their work. Ward IV Albany City Commissioner Chad Warbington was one of the first city leaders to jump in with support for a new park. 'As an elected official, it's refreshing to see a group of people who are passionate about the activity they're involved in,' he said. 'They're organized. They're meeting on a regular basis. As much as I can, I will help and be their advocate.' He called the park demolition an 'unfortunate situation' that the city had not intended to happen as quickly as it did. He said there is no reason the city can't get a new skate park within a year or two. 'We researched existing skate parks around us … Columbus, Macon,' Warbington said. 'We're not trying to recreate the wheel. We need to take some park designs that other cities have done and kind of reapply them.' However, Ranew said his group wants a skate park that is unique to Albany and would draw people into the community. He said, unknown to those outside of the skate community, people would travel from all over to visit the old park, even posting their visit experience on Youtube channels with millions of followers. 'We don't want to copy and paste a skate park into Albany,' Ranew said. 'We definitely need some features that every skate park has, but we need to invent something that is unique for Albany.' Warbington also said the city is leaning toward building a park at historic Tift Park. He said it would be more cost-effective for the city to add on to an already existing amenity – bringing the cost down from up to $1 million to start from scratch to about $200,000 to add to a site. 'It's good to have a variety of amenities at a park vs. having a park with just one activity because you're only drawing one demographic,' he said. Adding onto an existing site would also mean a new skate park sooner. The Southwest Georgia Skate group opposes the Tift Park suggestion. The group doesn't want speed. They want care and time spent gathering community input. Adam Inyang, an Albany resident and once a regular user of the skate park, said the group wants to keep the skate park on the east side of the Flint River. 'We want to highlight the positive aspects of why we want it on the east side of the river … how it impacts the community there … revitalizes downtown and brings more energy there,' he said. Ranew said many of the frequent users of the skate park were youths or Albany residents who didn't have access to vehicles. The Riverfront Skate Park's location just across the Oglethorpe Bridge on College Avenue made it accessible to nearby neighborhoods. He also said incomplete projects at Tift Park have left a bad taste in Albany residents' mouths. Southwest Georgia Skate members spoke to vendors at the weekly Tift Park Community Market who said they'd been advocating for pickleball and tennis courts for years to no avail. Right now, the park has neglected, deteriorated tennis courts. Inyang said the city commission discussed plans for development and recreation at Tift Park during a recent retreat. He said he fears adding a skate park into the mix at the park would make it just 'a small little blip' in bigger plans. Meanwhile, Ranew is planning fundraisers for his new nonprofit. A Skate Day is in the works, and the group plans to start a GoFundMe. The group received its first large-scale donation of $1,000 from King Randall with The X for Boys, a preparatory school. Ranew said he feels Albany's city leadership is pushing the Tift Park location and pushing out community input. 'It's hard to make these commission meetings and to get in touch with these commissioners,' Ranew said. 'So many people give up, but I'm not giving up until this is done.' Warbington said the city stands ready to collaborate and come up with a Lashley and Alex Ranew wear Southwest Georgia Skate shirts, representing the newly formed nonprofit. Staff Photo: Lucille LanniganAlex Ranew, second from right, shakes hands with King Randall, second from left, after receiving a donation for Southwest Georgia Skate. Photo Courtesy of Alex Ranew
