U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) carried out operations in Nashville this week, leading to the apprehension of a convicted child sex offender and an individual suspected of gang affiliation. However, the city’s mayor expressed concerns that these actions were not aimed at enhancing public safety.
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) shared Democratic Nashville Mayor Freddie O’Connell’s letter to the city about the ICE arrests.
“Our primary focus is on ensuring public safety, and we are very concerned that these federal measures appear to be counterproductive,” stated O’Connell. “We understand that overnight, ICE agents conducted enforcement activities in Middle Tennessee, detaining individuals. I want to clarify that no personnel from the Metropolitan Nashville Police Department (MNPD) were involved in last night’s operations as we gather more information.”
He further noted that the city’s police force lacks federal immigration enforcement powers and its officers are not trained to perform immigration enforcement tasks.
ICE made several arrests in Tennessee, including a member of Tren de Aragua and a convicted child sex predator. (Christopher Dilts/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
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.
Three in four arrests of illegal immigrants involved someone accused of committing a crime, ICE claimed.
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.
