Authorities arrest over 100 people on Tennessee roads in support of Trump's deportation plan

NASHVILLE, Tenn. – More than 100 radical person been taken into custody by national migration officials successful a associated cognition with the Tennessee Highway Patrol, leaving galore successful Nashville's migrant assemblage uncertain and worried.

“None of america person ever seen thing similar this,” Lisa Sherman Luna, enforcement manager of the Tennessee Immigrant and Refugee Rights Coalition said Friday.

The cognition with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement is simply a reminder of however section and state instrumentality enforcement jurisdictions are captious to President Donald Trump’s plans for wide deportations. Last week, Florida officials touted a associated cognition with ICE that resulted successful 1,120 migration arrests.

Tennessee's Gov. Bill Lee precocious signed a instrumentality creating a part of migration enforcement with the state’s Department of Safety and Homeland Security, which includes the Highway Patrol. He is 1 of a fig of Republican officials pledging to usage authorities resources to transportation retired Trump’s plans.

Meanwhile, metropolis officials successful the Democratic stronghold of Nashville person disavowed engagement and been captious of the arrests. Nashville Law Director Wally Dietz said the state-federal operation, which began May 3, caught everyone successful metropolis authorities by surprise.

Responding to concerns astir Nashville constabulary beingness extracurricular an ICE office, Dietz said Wednesday that the metropolis "routinely receives requests for other patrols for a assortment of reasons and responds to the grade resources are available." He said helium didn't cognize who was detained and that, erstwhile helium requested much accusation from the Highway Patrol, helium was told to record a nationalist records request.

The Highway Patrol said Friday that it made 588 stops successful the associated cognition with ICE, which took custody of 103 nether probe for migration violations.

The stops “led to the betterment of amerciable drugs and firearms — taking unsafe elements disconnected the thoroughfare and making Tennessee safer,” the Highway Patrol said. One idiosyncratic was wanted successful a sidesplitting successful El Salvador.

The Highway Patrol said stops are based solely connected operator behavior. "We bash not participate neighborhoods oregon halt vehicles based connected who idiosyncratic is — we halt based connected what they bash down the wheel," it said.

But migrant rights supporters contend that the patrols person focused connected parts of the metropolis wherever the bulk of residents are radical of color.

“All signs constituent to this being radical profiling intended to terrorize the bosom of the migrant and exile community,” Sherman Luna said. “What we’ve heard is that THP is flagging radical down for things similar a breached taillight oregon tinted windows."

Sherman Luna believes immoderate of those being detained would beryllium allowed to enactment successful the state if they were capable to person competent ineligible practice astatine an migration hearing. Instead, she has heard that radical are agreeing to beryllium deported retired of fearfulness that they could walk months oregon years successful migration detention.

About 9% of the Nashville metropolitan country colonisation of astir 2 cardinal are immigrants, with galore from Mexico and Honduras, according to the Migration Policy Institute's investigation of census data. The metropolis besides has a ample Kurdish colonisation surviving alongside refugees from Sudan, Myanmar and different countries.

“It’s a strategy to onslaught fearfulness into our vibrant, diverse, beauteous neighborhoods," Sherman Luna said.

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