It’s late at night in South Nashville, and the seventh day of a weeklong immigration sweep here. Tennessee state troopers, trailed by federal ICE agents in unmarked cars, raced down deserted streets in this predominantly Hispanic neighborhood. “Are you in Harding? Now — this white one went back down there too.” These are volunteers from The ReMIX Tennessee, an immigrant advocacy organization. They’re trying to document and disrupt what they say is an unprecedented partnership between state troopers and ICE agents. “Yeah it’s putting a lot of fear in the community. Like, I’m having conversations with people’s families who are wanting to self-deport because they don’t want to experience, again, what they experienced.” Self-deportation is something the Trump administration has been promoting. It even began offering charter flights and money to those who choose it. On this night, 24-year-old Gisselle Huerta and 25-year-old Stephanie Alas arrive at the scene of a traffic stop. “This car is pulling in. it’s ICE.” Here you see a state trooper vehicle, and here you see an unmarked car with ICE agents standing by. “So they just pulled someone over, and we came out here and tried to figure out why. Do you need anything from us? You’re good? Yeah we’re going to wait here until they let this gentleman go, and then we’re going to follow behind them.” State troopers can’t typically enforce immigration laws, and ICE agents can’t pull over cars without probable cause or a warrant. But this new strategy, which the Highway Patrol called a cooperative public safety operation, has meant that routine traffic stops have ended in immigration arrests. That’s exactly what happened to Ana and her fiancé, who are both undocumented. She asked to remain anonymous for fear of deportation. “So when he pulls us over, I ask him, ‘Why are you pulling us over?’ And all he says is, ‘Your tints are too dark.’ He didn’t ask us for IDs. He didn’t ask us for anything regarding the car. Nothing — all he said was, ‘Turn off the car. I’ll be right back.’ Next thing you know, we’re surrounded by cars. There’s flashlights in our faces. We can’t see anything.” Ana said no citation was given and that she was taken into custody by ICE. She was held in a cell for hours. “More than 20 in each one because there’s no space. There’s only one bathroom. They start getting us processed one by one. Like it took a long time. It’s hot in there.” She was released and said she wasn’t given a reason. ICE has said they’re targeting undocumented immigrants with criminal records. But Ana’s fiancé, who has no known criminal record, was arrested. He was sent to a Louisiana detention facility. During our interview with her, he called. “My son is scared about everything that’s going on in general. He thinks I’m not going to come home from work. People are scared. Nobody wants to come out, and I get it. They’re taking anybody.” During this weeklong operation, the Tennessee Highway Patrol said it made 660 stops for traffic violations. Nearly 200 of those stops resulted in immigration arrests, and just about half of those had prior or pending criminal charges. In a statement to The Times, the Tennessee Highway Patrol said the recent operation focused solely on enforcing Tennessee traffic laws, and that immigration actions were handled separately by federal authorities. The Tennessee governor said their role was to be a partner with ICE, that the operation was an effort to remove criminals from the streets. ICE called the operation a success. “This is what I call home. I’ve been here, like I said, for 27 years, and we’ve never seen anything like this ever. What I want people to know: They’re going to another state after this.”
