With Nashville mayoral forum and turnout push, an immigrant rights group hopes to boost interest in local races

This year, TIRRC VOTES is stepping up their engagement efforts in Nashville’s immigrant and refugee communities.

Since the organization was founded in 2018, the sister organization of the Tennessee Immigrant and Refugee Rights Coalition has trained over 500 canvassers from 86 different countries. Most of its canvassers are young people and students who go door to door and spend time at local businesses and faith organizations, registering people to vote and trying to make sure people in their communities show up at the polls.

Pratik Dash is the political director at TIRRC. He said that candidates tend to focus on frequent voters, which means they sometimes overlook immigrant and refugee communities where many are relatively new to voting. That’s why these engagement efforts are so critical, he explained.

“We make a commitment that we’re going to make sure every single immigrant voter is going to get a touch from TIRRC VOTES — whether it’s a door knock, whether it’s a phone call, a text, a piece of mail,” he said. “We are going to find some way to make sure that we contact them to let them know how important this election is.”

TIRRC hosted a mayoral forum highlighting immigrant and refugee issues at Plaza Mariachi on Monday night, which drew nearly 600 attendees. Now, TIRRC VOTES is shifting its focus to voter registration and engagement ahead of the election this August.

Judith Clerjeune, TIRRC’s policy director, explained that immigration policy and relief isn’t a priority for the federal government right now, and the state government has historically been unwelcoming toward immigrants and refugees. She said that makes this election crucial for the future of projects such as expanding language access and increasing legal aid.

“This is a moment we really cannot sit out,” Clerjeune said. “The city level is where we really need policies and resources to make sure that immigrant community members can thrive and be safe.”

Pratik Dash added that TIRRC VOTES canvassers will be focusing on getting folks registered to vote right up until the July 5 deadline, and they are expecting to register a few thousand voters this year.