Blue city mayor says ICE arrests are not ‘focused on making us safer’

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) conducted operations in Nashville this week, resulting in the arrests of a convicted child sex predator and an alleged gang member, but the mayor of the city said the arrests were not focused on making the city safer.

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) shared Democratic Nashville Mayor Freddie O’Connell’s letter to the city about the ICE arrests.

“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 wrote. “Overnight, we understand that US 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.”

He added that the city’s police department does not have federal immigration authority, nor are its members trained to conduct immigration enforcement.

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O’Connell also said the police department lacks access to federal immigration databases.

“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 added. “We will be seeking the names of those detained.”

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.

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“The Nashville Mayor should want these criminal illegal aliens off American streets,” DHS posted on X. “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.”

O’Connell’s office did not respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment.

ICE recently announced that during President Donald Trump’s first 100 days of his second term, the agency arrested over 66,000 illegal immigrants and removed more than 65,000.

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ICE arrested 66,463 illegal immigrants and removed 65,682, including those accused of threatening public safety and national security, according to a news release from ICE.

Three in four arrests of illegal immigrants involved someone accused of committing a crime, ICE claimed.

The total number of ICE illegal immigrant arrests includes 2,288 alleged gang members from Tren de Aragua, MS-13, 18th Street and other gangs. Tren de Aragua and MS-13 are now listed as foreign terrorist organizations.

Fox News Digital’s Alexandra Koch contributed to this report.