Less than 48 hours after federal immigration agents began arresting and detaining drivers in Nashville’s immigrant corridor, Ingrid Martínez’s mom was taken into custody.
“I didn’t know that after five minutes of barely being with her, I wasn’t going to be able to see her anymore,” Martínez said.
Her mother is just one of nearly 100 Nashvillians detained by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents in the past few days.
The raids on South Nashville roads began late Saturday night. Families and activists gathered outside the city’s ICE facility Sunday afternoon and protested as people were bussed to a bigger detention center in Louisiana.
Alan King, a lawyer with the Tennessee Immigrant and Refugee Rights Coalition, said the aftermath of the raids have been like “responding to a mass casualty event or a natural disaster.”
King said he has not been able to contact people who have been detained, and fears that they may waive their right to a court hearing without knowing what they’re signing.
“Individuals are being asked to sign away their due process while in deplorable conditions,” King said. “One individual detained on Saturday, who was later released, shared with us that in the room that he was in, 20 people were packed inside with only one toilet and no privacy.”
ICE did not respond to WPLN’s requests for comment on the conditions of its facility.
Nashville Mayor Freddie O’Connell has decried the ICE raids, but a sweeping immigration law passed earlier this year means that his office is limited in how it can address community concerns.
“It is not a local operation, and it’s a very difficult place for us to be able to make any guarantees about the conditions inside,” O’Connell said.
More: Nashville officials release timeline of ‘surprise’ ICE arrests
TIRRC Director Lisa Sherman Luna said she has heard reports of children left in cars while their parents are taken into custody and of ICE agents approaching children at bus stops.
“I’ve been doing this work for over 10 years. We have never seen anything like this. And we’ve responded to worksite raids in East Tennessee,” Luna said.
As part of the operation, the Tennessee Highway Patrol reported making 369 traffic stops, leading to 11 specific charges and 94 ICE arrests.
“Several of the … encounters involved suspected gang members, including Tren de Aragua affiliates, and led to the recovery of illegal drugs and firearms — taking dangerous elements off the street and making Tennessee safer,” THP said in an email to WPLN News.
“My mom isn’t a criminal,” Martínez said. “My mom — she serves a church. She takes care of her grandkids. So, I don’t know how she can be seen as a criminal.”
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