(This story has been updated.)
An apparent immigration enforcement action by agents with the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement Agency early Sunday morning in Nashville resulted in the detentions of area immigrants, officials said.
According to a press release from state Rep. Aftyn Behn, a Nashville Democrat, “Witnesses reported multiple drivers pulled over and detained, including mothers driving to work, allegedly leaving children in vehicles by themselves. Videos, photos, and firsthand accounts point to ICE working in tandem with the Tennessee Highway Patrol (THP) to carry out what can only be described as a dragnet.”
A Tennessee Lookout photojournalist on Sunday documented buses leaving a U.S. Department of Homeland Security facility in Nashville. Family members of the alleged detainees were also present, protesting the alleged detentions.
In a statement, Mellissa Harper, Enforcement and Removal Operations New Orleans Field Office Director, did not specifically confirm the Nashville action but said, “Protecting the safety and security of our communities remains a top priority for ICE. As part of our ongoing mission to uphold U.S. immigration laws, our targeted enforcement operations are specifically focused on individuals who threaten public safety or national security. These efforts help ensure that our neighborhoods remain safe and that immigration laws are enforced.”
Raquel Bueno’s husband was detained in a Sunday morning immigration enforcement action in Nashville. (Photo: John Partipilo/Tennessee Lookout)
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement walk back to the agency’s North Nashville facility after escorting a bus filled with immigrants out of the parking lot. (Photo: John Partipilo/Tennessee Lookout)
A bus, reportedly filled with Nashville immigrants detained on Sunday morning, prepares to leave the Department of Homeland Security and ICE facility on North Nashville. (Photo: John Partipilo/Tennessee Lookout)
Family members of immigrants and community advocates protest beside an ICE bus. (Photo: John Partipilo/Tennessee Lookout)
“Arbitrarily rounding up parents on their way home and workers traveling to their jobs does not make Nashville safer or stronger,” said Lisa Sherman Luna, executive director of the Tennessee Immigrant and Refugee Rights Coalition in a statement. “Instead it shatters families, erodes trust in law enforcement, and leads to fear, trauma and isolation that weakens the collective fabric of our community.”
“This is yet another unconscionable act of cruelty and abuse of power by ICE collaborating with state law enforcement that will have a devastating impact on families throughout Nashville and beyond,” Luna said.
In a statement posted on social media, Nashville Mayor Freddie O’Connell said, “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. We will be seeking the names of those detained.”
At publication time, the Lookout had not received a response to requests for comment from the Tennessee Highway Patrol.
— Mayor Freddie O’Connell (@mayorofnashvilletn.bsky.social) May 4, 2025 at 7:41 PM
The detention comes amid a federal and state focus on immigrants and moves to deport them. In a January special legislative session, the Tennessee General Assembly passed sweeping immigration legislation to create a new state enforcement office as a liaison with the Trump administration, provide grants to law enforcement agencies that agree to participate in the federal 287(g) program, which allows local police and sheriff deputies to enforce federal immigration laws and criminalize public officials who vote for sanctuary city policies.
In a press announcement calling for the special session, Gov. Bill Lee said his aim “ensuring our state is ready to assist President Trump in carrying out his immigration enforcement agenda.”
Several other bills targeting immigrants were taken up during the regular legislative session. A measure to hold churches and charitable organizations liable for providing housing aid to immigrants without legal status — who then go on to commit a crime — passed, as did a “human smuggling” bill, which creates a new crime for harboring or hiding immigrants without permanent legal status.
A spokesperson for the Metro Nashville Police Department said the agency was not involved in the detention action but sent officers to the DHS facility to monitor a public protest before they were relieved by highway patrol officers.
This is a developing story and will be updated as additional information becomes available.
