NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Nashville Mayor Freddie O’Connell addressed Republican accusations Friday concerning a recent city report that included the names of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents, which critics say endangered federal officers.
The report, released under an executive order requiring Metro Nashville employees to notify the mayor’s office of any interactions with ICE, detailed 35 immigration-related encounters between Metro Police and federal agencies. While the document initially contained names of ICE agents, O’Connell said the city did not intend for that information to be public and that the names were swiftly removed once discovered.
“We’ve had a training process, and our Metro Nashville Police Department has been very effective in this,” O’Connell said during a press conference on May 30. “We will be reviewing not just how that information is recorded as it comes into publicly available processes, but also then what does get posted. The interest here is just in transparency. It is not in obstruction or doing anything that would be considered harmful.”
Republican critics have accused O’Connell of putting ICE and Homeland Security Investigations agents at risk by releasing the information. They have also alleged that the mayor misused federal funds to impede immigration enforcement, though no evidence has been provided to support these claims.
O’Connell firmly denied any wrongdoing, emphasizing that Metro Nashville has not interfered with ICE operations and does not have legal authority over immigration enforcement. “Metro does not have any legal authority as it relates to immigration enforcement, and we do not impede federal law enforcement actions. In fact, we regularly partner with state and federal law enforcement agencies to take violent criminals off our streets,” he said.
The controversy gained further traction after the Department of Homeland Security released a list on May 29 identifying sanctuary jurisdictions it claims “deliberately obstruct” federal immigration enforcement, with Nashville included alongside cities like Los Angeles, Denver, Chicago, and Tennessee’s Shelby County.
O’Connell rejected the sanctuary city label, stating, “I’m puzzled about what criteria they used to include Nashville. We are not and never have been a sanctuary city. If you look at the state law that defines a sanctuary city policy, there are six factors, and we do not and never have had a policy that violates any of those factors.”
On the political front, U.S. Representative Andy Ogles (R-Tenn.) announced on social media that a federal investigation into the mayor’s office related to this month’s ICE operation has begun. Ogles shared a letter from two House committees demanding that O’Connell provide documents to Congress by June 12.
Senator Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.) also called for a Department of Justice investigation, accusing O’Connell of “attempting to undermine” President Donald Trump and ICE’s efforts to “make Tennessee communities safer by arresting illegal aliens and getting dangerous criminals off the streets.”
O’Connell responded that his office would cooperate fully with all inquiries. “I am not particularly concerned. We’re going to, again, respond appropriately to all inquiries, and we have been guided by a full understanding of state and federal law and will continue to be,” he said.
The ongoing debate highlights the tensions between local governance and federal immigration enforcement efforts in Tennessee and beyond.
