SEN BILL HAGERTY: Nashville is not a sanctuary city. I won’t let that happen

Nashville is not, nor is any other city in Tennessee, a sanctuary city. I intend to make certain that remains the case.  

In May in Nashville, ICE conducted a successful operation with Tennessee Highway Patrol to arrest 196 criminal illegal aliens, including a convicted rapist and a suspected murderer. 

While I have received every assurance that Nashville and every other city in Tennessee will work in a cooperative manner with law enforcement, make no mistake: I will make certain those commitments are not just lip service. 

TENNESSEE REP SAYS NASHVILLE MAYOR'S ICE POLICIES AMOUNT TO 'AIDING AND ABETTING ILLEGAL IMMIGRATION'

After the operation, Nashville Mayor Freddie O’Connell condemned ICE’s good work, promoted a fund to provide support dollars for illegal immigrants and their families in Nashville, and even updated an executive order to fast-track the collection of all Nashville government employees’ interactions with ICE. 

Nashville Mayor Freddie O'Connell criticized ICE raids in Nashville, saying they are not focused on making the city safer, but instead leave the community fearing law enforcement interaction. (Associated Press / Getty Images)

The mayor’s executive order has – unsurprisingly – led to the doxxing of ICE agents, who have faced a 413% increase in assaults against them while on the job. In Nashville, we know that activists are monitoring ICE activity in the city and alerting each other of ICE’s movements using encrypted group chats. 

Did these groups see the doxxed ICE agents’ personal information? How will they use it? How does the mayor ensure these lists of ICE agents do not end up in the wrong hands? These are all questions we shouldn’t have to ask, but now we do. 

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The cloud of confusion that has arisen from this misstep is unfortunate, and the facts need to be made clear: the state of Tennessee is a state that stands for law enforcement and the protection of its citizens. 

The leftwing media is adding fuel to the fire. For example, New York Times opinion writer Margaret Renkl explicitly compares ICE raids in Nashville to the Jim Crow South and the Trail of Tears. Her article – littered with cherry-picked stories from immigrant activists – uses such ridiculous words as "hunt" to suggest that what is happening in my state is not legal. Let me be clear: the only illegality is from those who chose to cross the border illegally. 

We know where this all leads: In 2019, an Antifa activist attempted to firebomb an ICE facility in Tacoma, Washington. Thankfully, he was stopped before he could succeed. But his intentions and motivation were clear. In his manifesto, he slandered ICE as "the forces of evil," and compared their detention facilities to "concentration camp[s]." 

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Even when such rhetoric from the media and mismanagement on the part of local officials does not inspire acts of domestic terrorism, it still leads to harassment and threats against ICE and other federal law enforcement officers. 

In the first Trump presidency, the left shamelessly engaged in doxxing of ICE agents, sharing their personal information in an effort to intimidate them out of their jobs, or even cause direct harm to them. Such private information was even shared by college professors, published by WikiLeaks, and disseminated by the far-left domestic terrorist organization Antifa.

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Now that President Donald Trump is back in office, activists have resumed this dangerous tactic. Even state lawmakers have joined in on efforts to expose ICE officers’ identities, with Tennessee Democrat state Representative Aftyn Behn filming herself gleefully stalking ICE agents. 

White House 'border czar' Tom Homan speaks with reporters outside the White House in Washington, DC, on March 7, 2025. (JIM WATSON/AFP via Getty Images)

Trump’s historic re-election made it clear: the American people support his immigration agenda, including the removal and deportation of criminal illegal aliens from our communities. Yet some, like Nashville Mayor O’Connell, whether intentional or not, are inhibiting the president’s mission. This will not stand. 

BLUE CITY MAYOR SAYS ICE ARRESTS OF DANGEROUS CRIMINALS ARE NOT ‘FOCUSED ON MAKING US SAFER’

The Trump administration and the men and women of ICE have a Herculean task before them in cleaning up what former President Joe Biden facilitated: the largest invasion of our Southern border in history. 

For four years, we watched Biden sacrifice our national sovereignty to allow millions to illegally flood our country. Unsurprisingly, this illegal tsunami included murderers, rapists, human traffickers, drug smugglers, people on terrorist watch lists, and more. Today, ICE is working overtime to remove these criminals and make our communities safer. 

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The leftwing media is adding fuel to the fire. For example, New York Times opinion writer Margaret Renkl explicitly compares ICE raids in Nashville to the Jim Crow South and the Trail of Tears. 

Here’s the reality: Illegal aliens are facing justice. They are being sent home. And violent criminals, who are here illegally, will no longer plague our communities. 

O’Connell should take care to empower ICE and local law enforcement to remove illegal aliens from our communities, not endanger them. The American people, the people of Tennessee and the brave men and women of ICE deserve much better. I look forward to seeing this commitment upheld. 

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