A Republican congressman successfully pushed his GOP colleagues to launch an investigation into the mayor of Nashville for allegedly obstructing Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) operations.
The House Homeland and Judiciary Committees opened investigations into Nashville Mayor Freddie O’Connell for allegedly aiding and abetting illegal immigrants, Tennessee Rep. Andy Ogles announced during a Monday press conference. The federal oversight follows an executive order issued by the mayor directing city employees and first responders to report all communication with immigration authorities directly to O’Connell’s office.
“The individuals that the mayor’s standing with are murderers, rapists, drug traffickers, sexual predators, child traffickers — the list goes on,” Ogles said during the press conference. “Which is why I will always stand on the rule of law and with ICE.”
“And I don’t just stand with ICE, I’ll stand in front of ICE because we the people have had enough,” the Tennessee Republican continued. “Which is why, due to the remarks of Freddie O’Connell and the potential for aiding and abetting illegal immigration, the Homeland Security and the Judiciary committees will be conducting an investigation into the mayor of Nashville, his conduct, and whether or not federal dollars have been used in criminal enterprise.”
The investigation will request all documentation and communication from O’Connell’s office regarding the anti-ICE executive order and internal communication and documentation regarding ICE enforcement actions in Nashville and the surrounding Davidson County. All communication from government and affiliated non-governmental organization employees regarding the apprehension and detention of criminal illegal migrants in the area will also be requested, according to Ogles.
All communication between immigration officials and a Metro emergency services department must be reported to the Mayor’s Office of New Americans within one business day, according to the executive order. Communication between immigration officials and a Metro non-emergency services department or office regarding an activity “outside regular policies/procedures” shall be submitted to the office within three days.
Ogles earlier in May had called on the House Homeland and Judiciary Committee Chairmen to look into the mayor’s actions.
The investigation marks the latest in the GOP’s fight against sanctuary jurisdictions and other actors opposed to immigration enforcement. The Republican-led House Oversight Committee called on the mayors of the largest sanctuary cities in the U.S. to a hearing in March and answer questions about their respective policies restricting ICE cooperation.
Border czar Tom Homan, in charge of leading the Trump administration’s deportation agenda, previously told the DCNF that any obstruction of ICE’s enforcement operations would result in consequences.
“There are federal statutes on the books for knowingly concealing and harboring an illegal alien away from ICE officers,” Homan said to the DCNF in December, following President Donald Trump’s election victory. “There are statutes on the books about impeding federal law enforcement officers – they’re all felonies.”
“Now these sanctuary cities cannot assist – ok, that’s fine. They can stand aside, that’s fine, but they cannot cross that line,” Homan went on. “If they cross that line, we’ll be asking the attorney’s office to consider prosecution.”
The Trump administration has since followed through on this pledge.
Federal prosecutors in April arrested a Wisconsin judge after she allegedly helped an illegal migrant accused of misdemeanor battery sneak out of her courtroom while ICE sought to arrest him. The judge, who has ties to left-wing activists, allegedly directed the illegal migrant and his lawyer to walk down a hallway toward another floor where ICE agents wouldn’t find him.
Later that month, Trump signed an executive order directing Attorney General Pam Bondi and Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem to identify city and state governments that are not complying with federal immigration laws. The sanctuary jurisdictions that refuse to amend or roll back their policies could face federal funding cuts and civil or criminal lawsuits.
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