Reviewing ICE-THP Operation in Nashville: Detentions and Debates

(NASHVILLE) A joint immigration operation by ICE and the Tennessee Highway Patrol in Southeast Nashville over the first weekend of May led to hundreds of traffic stops and dozens of arrests, triggering sharp disputes over racial profiling, due process and transparency. Records and accounts reviewed from the multi-agency effort, called Operation Flood the Zone, show that approximately 500 drivers were stopped and nearly 200 immigrants were detained over several days, with the concentrated action running from the evening of May 3 into the early hours of May 4, 2025. ICE has stated that 94 people were detained for further investigation and transport, while sources and local advocates reported figures ranging from 150 to 500 traffic stops as the operation moved through neighborhoods with large Latino communities in Southeast Nashville.

The sweep has become a flashpoint in a city where local officials said they were not told in advance and immigrant advocates accused federal and state officers of targeting residents based on race. ICE said the detained group included a convicted child sex predator and a suspected member of the Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua. Governor Bill Lee defended the operation, saying,

“A child sex trafficker has been caught, a gang member, multiple felons. These people don’t need to be in our backyard. And these kinds of efforts will help remove them.”
The governor’s comments underscored how supporters see the operation as a public safety measure, even as legal groups questioned the basis for the stops and the rapid transfer of detainees out of the city.

Among those caught up in the sweep was the mother of Ingrid Martinez, who said her family had only minutes with her before she was taken away.

“I didn’t know that after five minutes of barely being with her, I wasn’t going to be able to see her anymore.”
Martinez said her mother was transported to Louisiana within an hour of being detained. “She serves a church. She takes care of her grandkids. So, I don’t know how she can be seen as a criminal,” Martinez said. Her account has fed concerns among immigrant families across Nashville who have struggled to locate loved ones and understand what charges, if any, they face.

The Tennessee Immigrant and Refugee Rights Coalition (TIRRC) said its staff and lawyers have been working phones and doorsteps to track arrests and provide guidance to families, but they say officials have released minimal information. Executive Director Lisa Sherman Luna accused authorities of singling out Latino residents.

“They are kidnapping our people off the street based on nothing but the color of their skin,”
she said, adding,
“Fathers, brothers, mothers, sisters, friends, and neighbors are all languishing in immigration detention centers because of the color of their skin.”
Allen King, TIRRC’s legal director, said their immediate focus was on family reunification and legal access.
“Our full focus right now is making sure that families and friends are reunited with their loved ones, and that everyone affected has their fair day in court,” King said.

Transparency has been at the center of the dispute since Operation Flood the Zone unfolded. TIRRC and attorneys working with families said ICE and the Tennessee Highway Patrol (THP) have not provided a comprehensive list of those detained, where they were taken, or the legal basis for the stops. The coalition said it has been able to identify only 62 people through families who contacted the group as they attempt to track the movement of detainees, many of whom were transferred out of Nashville shortly after arrest. The limited information has complicated legal representation, with attorneys saying they are struggling to confirm clients’ locations and case status.

TIRRC has also raised due process concerns, alleging that no citations under state law were issued for the traffic stops that led to immigration checks. Luna said the pattern of stops and detentions, combined with a lack of formal citations, raises constitutional questions about the legality of the operation.

“Any Tennessean who cares about families, about safety, about our state and about belonging should be deeply alarmed and concerned about the lack of due process and violations of our most fundamental constitutional rights,” Luna said.
Advocacy groups have urged affected families to call TIRRC’s hotline at 615-414-1030 for legal information and help finding relatives moved to detention centers outside the state.

Metro Nashville officials said city police were not involved in the planning or execution of Operation Flood the Zone, and the city’s Director of Law, Wally Dietz, said he learned of the sweep after it concluded. Dietz sent letters to ICE asking for the names and charges of those arrested, but as of the latest reports said he had not received detailed information. Dispatcher audio from the night of the operation indicates federal authorities anticipated a public response. According to records, Inspector Jackson Sanders of the Federal Protective Service called Metro dispatch to request extra patrols at Brick Church Park, citing the likelihood of backlash or protests near ICE facilities. Metro police later responded to an ICE facility after receiving an automated message from the Department of Emergency Communications, and their role was limited to monitoring the scene and crowd control after the arrests had taken place.

The choice of target areas has intensified the debate. Residents and advocates said the operation focused on Southeast Nashville neighborhoods with high Latino populations, including corridors known for small businesses and churches serving immigrant families. Community members reported traffic stops across multiple blocks as officers questioned drivers and checked identification, with ICE teams transporting some detainees shortly after arrest. While ICE emphasized the arrests of a convicted child sex predator and a suspected gang member associated with Tren de Aragua, legal and advocacy groups said the overwhelming majority of people they encountered in the aftermath were workers and parents with no violent criminal records. They argue that without citations or public charge sheets, families are left to rely on word of mouth to confirm detentions.

The days after the sweep saw relatives moving between homes, churches, and known gathering spots seeking answers. Some families said they were told to check with detention facilities in Louisiana after local attempts to find loved ones stalled. Ingrid Martinez said her mother was taken out of state within an hour, leaving her scrambling to contact legal aid while also caring for grandchildren. For people like Martinez, the rapid transport compounded the shock of the arrest itself, making it harder to meet filing deadlines or gather documents that could help in court proceedings. Attorneys assisting families said the quick transfers can complicate communication, including attorney-client calls, particularly when detainees are booked into facilities hundreds of miles away within hours of an arrest.

For Metro officials, the operation raised questions about oversight and interagency coordination in Nashville. Dietz’s office pressed ICE for the names and charges, but without a reply the city had no official list of who was taken. That gap fueled rumors in Southeast Nashville and made it harder for local leaders to counsel residents. City officials also stressed that the Metro Nashville Police Department was not notified ahead of the operation and did not conduct traffic stops tied to it, an unusual circumstance for a sweep that involved hundreds of vehicles and a sizable federal presence in a major urban area.

ICE, which leads civil immigration enforcement nationwide, often conducts targeted operations with state partners. The agency has said Operation Flood the Zone included individuals with serious criminal backgrounds. Supporters of the sweep, including Governor Lee, view the arrests as a necessary response to public safety threats. Critics counter that the scale of traffic stops, the focus on Latino neighborhoods, and the limited disclosure ignite fears in immigrant communities that ordinary errands could lead to arrest and deportation. In the absence of public charge information, advocates said the broad net of the operation will be measured by the families left behind and by how many detainees end up removed without ever appearing before a judge in Nashville.

The conflicting numbers have also stirred confusion. Records described approximately 500 drivers as having been stopped, and nearly 200 immigrants detained over several days, while ICE said 94 were detained for further investigation and transport during the concentrated period from the evening of May 3 into early May 4. Sources reported between 150 and 500 traffic stops across that window. Legal observers said the varying figures reflect the patchwork of record-keeping between agencies and the speed at which people were moved, making it hard to reconcile totals without a full list released to the public.

Beyond the numbers, the images that surfaced in Southeast Nashville described a city on edge. Business owners told advocates they closed early as news of checkpoints spread through group chats. Parents kept children home from weekend events. At Brick Church Park, extra patrols were requested in anticipation of protests, though local police said their involvement was limited to maintaining order after the fact. Pastors and community leaders checked in on families known to have mixed immigration status, urging them to save key phone numbers and to carry identification. With so few official records made public, advocacy groups became the main clearinghouse for updates, fielding calls at all hours and compiling lists of potential detainees confirmed through relatives.

The operation left lawyers focusing on basic steps: find the person, confirm the location, and begin preparing for hearings that could occur far from Nashville. That work has been slowed by the absence of citations under state law for the initial stops, advocates said, because such paperwork can help trace where a person was booked and by whom. Without it, families rely on facility rosters and sporadic phone calls. TIRRC said it had identified 62 detained individuals through families but lacked a comprehensive picture of who was taken during Operation Flood the Zone. For those who are moved quickly, the distance and logistics add cost and delay, often requiring relatives to send documents to multiple detention locations as cases shift.

The political debate now turns on whether Nashville should have any role in future federal operations of this kind. Metro leaders have emphasized they were not involved and not notified. State leaders argue that cooperation with federal immigration enforcement is essential to remove dangerous offenders. For families in Southeast Nashville, the argument is less abstract. They are arranging childcare, missing work to call detention centers, and piecing together what happened during a night that began as routine and ended with relatives in handcuffs bound for out-of-state facilities. The human accounts push against the public safety narrative with a different set of facts: church volunteers, caregivers, and breadwinners taken without the citations that normally accompany a traffic stop.

In the weeks ahead, the central questions are likely to persist: which agencies authorized specific traffic stops, on what basis drivers were pulled over, and where each detainee is being held. Metro Nashville’s requests for names and charges remain outstanding, according to Dietz. ICE, which oversees detention and removal, is the only agency that can provide a full list of those arrested and their current locations. Families and advocates say that until that happens, they will keep calling and logging cases, trying to make sense of an operation that unfolded quickly and left so many unanswered questions behind. For those seeking official information, the agency’s site for enforcement actions and detainee guidance remains the primary point of reference at U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

As legal aid groups continue outreach, TIRRC has asked anyone affected by Operation Flood the Zone in Nashville to contact its hotline at 615-414-1030 for legal information and referrals. The group said it will press for transparency from ICE and THP and push to reunite families dispersed by the sweep. Whether the outcome of the arrests aligns with the promised public safety gains or deepens fear among immigrant residents may depend on what is disclosed next: a full accounting of who was stopped, who was detained, and why. Until then, the night of May 3-4, 2025 remains a dividing line in Nashville, marked by dozens of transport vans, two starkly different narratives, and a long list of names that relatives are still trying to track down.