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The Tennessee Conservative [By Adelia Kirchner] –
On Friday, Nashville Mayor Freddie O’Connell responded to recent demands that he rescind an executive order requiring Metro Nashville Police and the Metro Council to document and publish any interactions had with federal immigration agents.
Executive Order (EO) 30 requires that “all Covered Employees shall report certain Immigration Communications to the Designated Person at his or her Department/Office.”
The order defines “Immigration Communications” as those “between federal immigration authorities (or their parent agency, if regarding immigration) and a Metro emergency services department (Police, Fire, Emergency Management, or Emergency Communications).”
Any of these communications also have to be submitted to the Mayor’s Office of New Americans and O’Connell himself within 1 business day.
Information about these communications is accessible by the public and previously included the names of federal immigration agents.
The names of ICE agents were removed from the public reports after O’Connell’s initiative received backlash for inhibiting the safety of the individuals named.
“Shocking that the names of these law enforcement officers would be released, that they would be put into harm’s way,” said U.S. Sen. Marsha Blackburn.
On Thursday, June 5th, Tennessee House Speaker Cameron Sexton released a statement calling for O’Connell to rescind EO 30.
“This order has jeopardized the safety of federal and state agents to the extent that individuals are harassing and interfering in the lawful duty of these agents,” wrote Sexton. “While Metro has refused to assist federal agents with ICE; they decided to escalate it by forcing all employees to act as big brother. The time is now to rescind the big brother executive order and return to normal communications with state and federal authorities.”
The following day, O’Connell publicly responded to Sexton, saying that he has no plans to rescind the order because he considers it “appropriate” to maintain for the time being.
“Our focus is on participating in conversations, having discourse directly with our community, and frequently, at a staff level, with people in state and federal government,” O’Connell said.
O’Connell stated that he had not reviewed Sexton’s statement in its entirety yet because his office doesn’t “spend as much energy on statements”
“We believe that the transparency that is in that executive order helps everybody,” said O’Connell. “It helps make sure that nobody can accuse local, state, or federal entities of activity that did or did not occur. It also represents to the community that nobody is trying to hide anything here.”
The Nashville Mayor is currently under investigation by the federal government for obstruction of immigration enforcement efforts.
Memphis is also experiencing a loud discourse regarding recent ICE efforts in Tennessee.
On Sunday, several dozen protestors showed up, holding signs and banners on the corner of Highland and Summer in Memphis.
The activism group that orchestrated the protest, Indivisible Memphis, has stated that they have more protests planned to take place throughout the week.
According to Indivisible Memphis, they reject the “inhumane unlawful treatment of immigrants” and are acting in response to increased reports of ICE activity in the North Memphis and Berclair areas.
About the Author: Adelia Kirchner is a Tennessee resident and reporter for the Tennessee Conservative. Currently the host of Subtle Rampage Podcast, she has also worked for the South Dakota State Legislature and interned for Senator Bill Hagerty’s Office in Nashville, Tennessee. You can reach Adelia at adelia@tennesseeconservativenews.com.
