The mayor of the largest city in Nashville has no say in how the illegal immigrant population in the area is being arrested, and he’s outraged: Not because he can’t detain them, but because he can’t stop them from being detained.
Yes, it’s a tale as old as woke: In a Monday letter to Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Nashville Mayor Freddie O’Connell, a Democrat, petulantly complained that federal and state officials were arresting people who had no right to be in the country and that he had no say in the matter.
“Our top priority is keeping people safe, and we’re deeply concerned that what appear to be federal actions are making that harder,” O’Connell said in a letter to the Department of Homeland Security, according to Fox News.
“Overnight, we understand that U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement Agents detained people during enforcement actions in Middle Tennessee. As we learn more, I want to be clear: No [Metropolitan Nashville Police Department (MNPD)] personnel were involved in last night’s enforcement action.”
“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,” he continued.
“We will be seeking the names of those detained.”
The letter was released by DHS, presumably to show the state of Tennessee and the rest of the country just who the people of Nashville put in charge of running the city.
During the operation in Tennessee, ICE agents arrested a convicted child sex predator, a member of Tren de Aragua, an individual convicted of aggravated assault, and multiple aliens with drug charges. The Nashville Mayor should want these criminal illegal aliens off American… pic.twitter.com/27UVncviTk
— Homeland Security (@DHSgov) May 6, 2025
And it’s not like the operations, conducted Sunday, weren’t warranted.
Should federal and state officials continue to keep the mayor of Nashville out of the loop?
“DHS said the Nashville operation resulted in the arrests of a convicted child sex predator, an alleged member of the violent Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua, an individual convicted of aggravated assault and multiple illegal aliens on drug charges,” Fox News reported.
“The Nashville Mayor should want these criminal illegal aliens off American streets,” the DHS’ X post read.
“Attacks and demonization of our brave law enforcement is wrong. ICE officers are now facing a 413% increase in assaults.
“President Trump campaigned on immigration enforcement, the American people voted for it, and DHS is delivering.”
And yet, O’Connell spent the rest of the time left-splaining about why he was powerless to not turn Nashville into a sanctuary-city paradise.
“What’s clear today is that people who do not share our values of safety and community have the authority to cause deep community harm,” O’Connell said during a Monday media briefing, according to the Tennessee Lookout.
“We are working to determine more about what happened over the weekend but what we know right now based on public statements is state and federal officials coordinated without us to engage in traffic enforcement clearly intended to target immigration concerns.”
Yes, read those words correctly: “people who do not share our values of safety and community.” Those values, apparently defined by O’Connell and his Democratic base, are protecting gang members, child abusers, and drug criminals who are definitionally here illegally.
Thank heavens this feckless man is being kept out of the loop, both for our sake and his city’s sake.
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