Nashville immigrants weigh skipping court dates after ICE arrest at courthouse

Ariana Maia Sawyer | The Tennessean

Show Caption Hide Caption Veronica Zavaleta speaks about living in Nashville Veronica Zavaleta moved to Nashville from Mexico 15 years ago and since the election has taken precautions to protect her family, including installing five security cameras. She spoke at her home in Nashville in late May.

Concern about contacting local police or appearing in court is on the rise in the Nashville immigrant community after federal immigration agents arrested a man at the courthouse last week, advocacy organizations say.

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers appeared at the Justice A.A. Birch Building June 8 to collect one man for deportation, nearly arresting the wrong man, General Sessions Judge Lynda Jones said this week.

ICE's presence at the criminal courthouse was seen by many as a harbinger of the Trump administration's crackdown on immigration.

The Tennessee Immigrant and Refugee Rights Coalition said the number of times people sought advice specifically about whether or not to show up for court or contact police have all increased since that courthouse arrest.

Read More: Immigration arrest at Nashville courthouse latest in national trend

"The news of the arrest has spread like wildfire in the immigrant community and sent a chilling message that courts are places to avoid," TIRRC policy manager Lisa Sherman-Nikolaus said. "It's all the community can talk about on social media, community meetings, or at church."

People reached out to the organization about 25 times over the course of one week by either calling a crisis hotline, office phone or sending private Facebook messages, according to TIRRC. Calls for other services related to wage theft and affordable housing meanwhile have decreased.

ICE Kurdish police stop Morton and Nolensville Nashville Mayor Megan Barry has asked ICE to stop acting like city police officers after she viewed a video showing a man being stopped by ICE agents wearing vests that said "POLICE."

One woman was a domestic violence victim seeking an order of protection and called a community organizer, Sherman-Nikolaus said.

“She said she’d seen the news and she was wondering if she’d be at risk if she went to court," she said. "I think community members are weighing the risk. Is it worth reporting whatever happened if I might be deported?"

TIRRC routinely tells people that they should go to court and cooperate with police.

All communications at TIRRC are logged into a database and a case manager produces a weekly report. Sherman Nikolaus said the week before the arrest, there weren't any such callers, though TIRRC typically receives them sporadically.

Assistant Public Defender Mary Kathryn Harcombe, who specializes in immigration issues, said people have been asking her if they should show up for their court dates a lot more often in the past two or three months.

Read More: Judge: Immigration agent nearly arrested wrong man at Nashville courthouse

Since President Donald Trump signed executive orders ramping up immigration enforcement, Nashville immigrants have been living in fear, according to local advocacy organizations and community members. Harcombe said things could get worse as the trust between police and the immigrant community erodes.

"If there are more actions like what happened earlier this week with ICE portraying themselves as police, I think that much of MNPD’s good work would be undone,” she said.

More: ICE targets some Nashville Kurds for deportation after U.S. deal with Iraq

More: Nashville immigrants live in fear, make plans for deportation

More: Nashville to consider 'sanctuary city'-type policies as immigration debate rages

More: Nashville council members, advocates voice support for 'sanctuary city'-like policies

The Metro Council is considering legislation that would implement sanctuary city-like policies aimed at helping people access public services without fear.

If passed, the legislation would stop ICE from using local resources to carry out federal immigration law.

Sherman-Nikolaus called again for the Metro Council to pass the ordinance.

"Until we take action, we can expect ICE agents to use public places and employees to profile and harass community members as they carry out mass deportations," she said.

Nashville Mayor Megan Barry called on ICE to more clearly identify themselves in a letter to the agency dated Tuesday after the federal agents targeted some Iraqi Kurds for arrest and deportation.

"First and foremost, our Metro Nashville Police Department has gone to great lengths in building relationships with our New American community in order to promote public safety," Barry wrote in the letter. "This effort can be undermined when ICE agents act aggressively toward our citizens without properly identifying themselves as agents of the federal government rather than local law enforcement."

Metro Police spokesman Don Aaron said El Protector, the police department's immigrant outreach program, as well as the South Precinct have continued efforts to promote trust.

"After the recent news, South officers, along with members of the Specialized Investigations Division, reached out to community leaders through mosques to ensure that they knew we were not involved in immigration issues and that we are here for the safety of the entire community," Aaron said.

But American Muslim Advisory Council board member Drost Kokoye said the community at large often doesn't perceive a difference between ICE agents and Metro Nashville police officers.

Kokoye said that when ICE agents identify themselves as police, Kurdish Nashvillians have opened the door to immigration authorities even when they didn't have a warrant.

"It’s really heightened everybody’s sensitivity to watching police around them,” she said. "It is eroding that trust."

Reach Ariana Sawyer at asawyer@tennessean.com or on Twitter @a_maia_sawyer.