Memphis Mayor Says Police Cooperation With ICE Meant To Steer Federal Agencies Away From Deportations

Image Credit: memphistn.gov

The Tennessee Conservative [By Olivia Lupia] –

During a town hall which became heated on Monday evening, Memphis Mayor Paul Young confirmed the Memphis Police Department is cooperating with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents as part of the multi-agency Memphis Safe Task Force, but said his aim is to turn the attention of federal agencies to crime instead of immigration enforcement.

Young and Police Chief Cerelyn “CJ” Davis appeared before hundreds of Memphis residents during a community meeting led by several Hispanic pastors and Vecindarios901 (V901), an organization that tracks ICE activities in the city, posting real-time updates via social media and mass texts, and seeks to “intervene with ICE detentions here in Memphis”.

After confirming Memphis PD is working with ICE, Mayor Young addressed an increasingly agitated crowd, stating his intention in allowing the coordination was to steer federal agents away from mass deportation and toward aiding MPD investigate violent crimes. He also believes that should he fight the Trump administration, the government would respond with harsher tactics, pointing to Chicago as an example. 

“I believe that the posture of Chicago has caused the federal government to flood the community with ICE agents focused on immigration,” Young said. “That is why I have chosen to make sure our police department is working with federal teams to direct them towards our problem, which is crime.”

While that satisfied some attendees, others made allegations that ICE and other federal agencies are disproportionally engaging in racial profiling or resorting to kidnapping and other heavy-handed tactics against non-criminal Hispanics. 

One participant, an activist with the Tennessee Immigrant and Refugee Rights Coalition, shared her distress that her daughter was recently pulled over by a Shelby County Sheriff’s deputy for driving five miles over the speed limit. By her account, Border Patrol agents showed up roughly 10 minutes later and examined her daughter’s paperwork, then let her go with a warning. She claims this was a “clear case” of racial profiling against Hispanics.

“The traffic stops that you’re seeing are happening with Tennessee Highway Patrol,’’ Young said in response. “That’s why we have begun to get this task force ingrained into our Organized Crime Unit, our Multi-Agency Gang Unit. We have to focus on homicides, increasing our clearance rate, so we can solve some of the real violent crimes that are happening in our cities. When they [federal agents] don’t have those things to do, they ride around pulling people over.”

And some audience members claimed they are too afraid to go to work or shop, hiding in their homes and running out of food according to an immigrant food pantry, while other Hispanic-owned businesses are supposedly seeing huge drops in clientele.

Addressing those remarks, Young said he “certainly agree[s] that the fear-the terror- that is present in the Hispanic community. It’s not a good thing for our city. The Hispanic population has been the fastest growing population in Memphis for the last five years. I want that to continue. Which is why our team is doing all that we can to push that task force to focus on something other than immigration. We do not have an immigration issue in Memphis. We have a crime problem.”

Shelby County District Attorney Steve Mulroy, who also attended the Monday night meeting, seemed to concur with Young’s sentiments, maintaining that while he receives regular reports from the task force, he thinks most immigration-related arrests by the task force are not stemming from criminal activity.  

When asked what proportion of the nearly 20% of immigration arrests made by the task force he believes involve a criminal component, he said, “I don’t know precisely, but not many. There doesn’t seem to be any indication of reports of criminal activity other than unlawful presence in the United States.”

The task force has not released specific immigration data to confirm any immigration statistics other than the percentage of immigration-related arrests, but jail records for many arrests resulting from violent crimes show the detainees to have immigration detainers, meaning they are in the country illegally.

DHS press releases and updates from local law enforcement agencies have also confirmed the capture of numerous illegal aliens who performed various crimes.

While he admitted he did not know exactly how long the task force is meant to be in operation, Young believes the surge will last between 35-45 days based on the National Guard deployment to Washington DC earlier this year.

However Gov. Bill Lee has stated he intends for the task force to be an ongoing operation.

About the Author: Olivia Lupia is a political refugee from Colorado who now calls Tennessee home. A proud follower of Christ, she views all political happenings through a Biblical lens and aims to utilize her knowledge and experience to educate and equip others. Olivia is an outspoken conservative who has run for local office, managed campaigns, and been highly involved with state & local GOPs, state legislatures, and other grassroots organizations and movements. Olivia can be reached at olivia@tennesseeconservativenews.com.