Source: Politics<\/p>\n
An unsteady truce between Nashville\u2019s Democratic mayor and Tennessee’s Republican leaders just collapsed after an ICE dragnet in the city.<\/p>\n
Tension began to build in early May, when ICE started making traffic stops in partnership with the state highway patrol in the immigrant-heavy neighborhood of South Nashville, leading to the arrests of nearly 200 suspected undocumented immigrants.<\/p>\n
Mayor Freddie O\u2019Connell quickly condemned the action as damaging to the community. And a GOP firestorm resulted, with Republicans accusing O\u2019Connell of interfering with federal immigration enforcement.<\/p>\n
Four weeks later, a simple public policy spat has turned into a major conflict between some of the most powerful leaders in Tennessee, breaking a fragile peace between the city and the GOP supermajority legislature \u2013 and exposing Nashville to the wrath of the Trump administration. The feud, which shows no signs of ending soon, comes with real potential consequences for Nashville and other blue cities in red states being targeted over their immigration policies.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt’s unfortunate that he’s willing to support the law breakers instead of supporting us as the lawmakers,\u201d state Rep. Rusty Grills, a Republican, said of the mayor.<\/p>\n
O\u2019Connell, who has worked to calm long-running tensions with Republicans since his election in 2023, is the latest target of GOP ire over perceived threats to President Donald Trump\u2019s deportations, and the onslaught against the mayor also represents a further escalation in the administration\u2019s attack on local officials. In New Jersey, Newark Mayor Ras Baraka was arrested in May on a trespassing charge outside an ICE facility. That charge was later dropped, but U.S. Rep. LaMonica McIver is facing assault charges from the same confrontation.<\/p>\n
In Tennessee, Republicans in the state legislature told POLITICO that O\u2019Connell was putting officers at risk by updating a longstanding executive order mandating that city officials disclose interactions with ICE to the mayor\u2019s office within 24 hours. They have latched onto that as evidence the mayor is impeding law enforcement operations.<\/p>\n
O\u2019Connell, speaking at a press conference following the raids, said the city does not have the authority to enforce immigration laws, and noted that Nashville\u2019s crime rates are down. He has maintained that the city did not interfere with the ICE operation in early May.<\/p>\n
Yet GOP outrage has spread from Tennessee to Washington. O\u2019Connell is facing a federal investigation from House Republicans announced last week, and a call for another from the Department of Justice by Sen. Marsha Blackburn, who all argue that O\u2019Connell is impeding law enforcement\u2019s ability to crack down on crime committed by illegal immigrants.<\/p>\n
U.S. border czar Tom Homan has warned that Nashville could see larger immigration crackdowns as a result of O\u2019Connell\u2019s opposition.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019ll flood the zone in the neighborhoods to find the bad guy,\u201d Homan said on Fox News last week. \u201cWe\u2019ll flood the zone at work sites to find the bad guy, but we\u2019re going to do it, and [O\u2019Connell\u2019s] not going to stop us.\u201d<\/p>\n
Republicans have also gone after O\u2019Connell for highlighting a donations fund that supports individuals affected by the arrests, like children whose parents were detained. Republicans say the fund is an improper use of taxpayer dollars, although the fund was created by a nonprofit that says it exclusively uses private donations.<\/p>\n