GOP says action makes Nashville a 'sanctuary city;' Council members say it does not

Republican legislators are threatening action as Metro Nashville tries to codify restricting cooperation with federal immigration officials.

On Tuesday night, Metro Council passed the ordinance on second reading. A third and final vote is on track for next month. As sister publication the Nashville Scene reported after the meeting:

Although the ordinance would largely formalize Metro's current posture with relation to immigration enforcement, it has become a sort of proxy for a whole set of debates surrounding immigration in the wake of President Donald Trump's election. The bill's sponsor, Councilman Bob Mendes, has been at pains to emphasize that it does not make Nashville a "sanctuary city." Instead, it would prohibit Metro funds, facilities or resources from being used to enforce federal immigration laws and would also seek to prevent the Davidson County Sheriff's Office from responding to voluntary detainer requests from federal immigration agencies unless they are accompanied by a warrant. In other words, the ordinance would have Metro cooperate with the feds when such cooperation is legally required, but that's it. The council ultimately advanced the bill on second reading by a 25-8 vote. The council deferred until August a second ordinance that would end an agreement between Metro and the federal government that allows Immigration and Customs Enforcement to make use of a certain number of beds in the local Nashville jail. Mendes has cited public safety as a main motivation for the bill, arguing that uncertainty about immigration enforcement has led local immigrant communities to shy away from calling the police or bringing their children to be immunized for fear that they'll be swept up in the Trump administration crackdown. Those arguments were repeated Tuesday by Mendes and co-sponsor Councilman Colby Sledge.

However, several Republicans say the ordinance does indeed make Nashville a "sanctuary city" in violation of a 2009 state law. That law's sponsor, state Sen. Jim Tracy (R-Shelbyville), issued a press release Wednesday blasting the ordinance and threatening legislative action.

"There is a high cost to illegal immigration for our cities, counties and state," said Tracy. "That is why we took action in 2009 to prevent it. The ordinance passed yesterday clearly defies the letter and the spirit of our state law."

Tracy said if the ordinance is adopted on third reading, he will request an opinion as to its legality from the Attorney General's office.

State Sen. Mae Beavers commented that if elected governor she "will use the powers of the Governor’s office to defund any city in Tennessee that chooses to violate state and federal laws by embracing and encouraging illegal aliens to locate to our state." And Bill Lee, another gubernatorial candidate, called the ordinance "a reckless policy" that he "would use every tool at my disposal to halt the adoption of."

On Thursday morning, Metro Councilman Jeremy Elrod responded on Twitter with screenshots of applicable provisions and a link to the ordinance, saying, "Nashville's proposed immigration ordinance says in four places Metro must comply w/ federal, state or applicable law. Then it says if anything in the ordinance runs afoul of federal or state law, that portion is automatically void."

But U.S. Rep. Diane Black, who is reputed to be entering the Tennessee gubernatorial primary in the next few weeks, posted on Facebook, "I am appalled and disgusted that those in a position to lead are using their voice to obstruct immigration law, putting illegal aliens first and Tennessee families last. I implore the Nashville City Council to consider the dangerous implications this will have on our families, and I urge you to fulfill the promise you made to Tennesseans, when you took an oath of office, to protect those you serve."

Black later tweeted, with a link to an article about the meeting, "When justice isn't enforced to full extent & no follow-thru of deportation, ur essentially commuting sentences of dangerous criminal aliens."

But many of the most recent targets of U.S. Immigration, Customs and Enforcement are members of Nashville's massive Kurdish community, who have been in the country for decades. One man was rounded up by ICE because 15 years ago he sold alcohol to a minor, an infraction for which he had long since served all applicable penalties. ICE officials have also been posing as police officers, which they are not. Mayor Megan Barry has sent a letter requesting a halt to the practice.

Nashville Democratic U.S. Rep. Jim Cooper has sent a letter to the Iraqi ambassador questioning what will happen to any deported Kurds. Many Kurds fear deportations back to Iraq will likely result in death. "It is vitally important to determine if the dangers they could face abroad entitle them to at least temporary protection from removal," Cooper wrote.

Gov. Bill Haslam said he talked to Tennessee Department of Safety and Homeland Security Commissioner David Purkey on Monday to "help us understand what’s prompting this" and said Purkey is in discussions with his federal counterparts about the ICE situation. A federal judge in Michigan was asked to halt the deportations on Wednesday after the ACLU filed a lawsuit, but any ruling will not affect the Nashville Kurdish community.

Haslam said he will "wait and see" what happens with the Metro ordinance before forming an opinion as to whether action by the state is necessary, adding, "I wouldn’t be surprised, just having watched [them], if the legislature reacts if [Metro] Council does pass that."