Nashville Educators & Parents Conspire To Protect Illegal Aliens From ICE

Image Credit: Music City MigraWatch / Facebook

The Tennessee Conservative [By Olivia Lupia] –

After a streak of ICE enforcement activities in Nashville last week, teachers and parents are rallying to protect immigrant students, including patrolling streets and calling non-American families, warning of the agency’s presence in the area.

Immigrant advocate networks reported several ICE sightings and detainment “incidents” in the East and South Nashville areas last week, “fueling alarm and uncertainty among immigrant communities” as “rapid response” operations like Music City MigraWatch posted photos on social media of what they believed to be ICE vehicles and empty work vans left by those they’d detained.

These ICE watch groups, which report on the whereabouts of ICE and send volunteers to take pictures or videos of the arrests, and other immigrant advocacy organizations complained that the process of actually verifying reports of ICE’s presence and their taking people into custody remains “complicated” due to the agency’s tactics. 

In many of the reported ICE sightings last week, authorities were using unmarked vehicles, swiftly making their arrests, and some found the agents already gone from the scene before those tracking their movements could arrive to photograph the incident or document the validity of the report.

Last Wednesday, the Nashville Banner relayed that they observed “white passenger vans and other unmarked vehicles with government and out-of-state plates entering and exiting a federal law enforcement facility off Brick Church Pike.” The publication noted this to be the same facility where illegals were detained during the May ICE/Tennessee Highway Patrol enforcement operation.

In response to these heightened immigration activities, some Nashville parents, teachers, and even principals are mobilizing on their own accord, creating watch groups, following buses, or hosting trainings to ensure ICE doesn’t “snatch” any immigrant students.

Educators and parents gathered at bus stops to watch for immigration authorities while others drove students home who said they were uncomfortable walking or taking the bus. Some teachers even called immigrant families whose children are enrolled in their schools, including those from Afghanistan, Mexico, and Somalia, to inform them ICE was in the neighborhood. 

One parent relayed that while she and other parents monitored her daughter’s middle school bus stop, her husband drove around the area on the lookout for ICE vehicles. 

Clint Wilson, principal at Glencliff High School in South Nashville, has been taking steps he “never thought I would have to do” to “protect his students’ safety”. When he started receiving reports immigration enforcement in the area one day last spring, he got in his truck after school and followed a bus to an apartment complex and drove around, waiting until all the students were inside.

Glencliff and other Nashville schools have presented “know your rights” trainings or set up tables on campus with information for students on how to interact, or avoid interactions, with ICE or other immigration authorities. 

Teachers at Glencliff have also hosted trainings in partnerships with community organizations, including a legislative advocacy session and an informational session on the history of Tennessee immigration, and have organized adult Spanish classes so teachers can “better communicate with families.”

ICE has not been targeting schools and there have not been any reports in Tennessee of immigration arrests being made on school grounds. Metro Nashville Public Schools spokesperson Sean Braisted confirmed to the Nashville Banner there have been zero instances of attempted immigration enforcement on MNPS campuses this year.

And according to district policy, should immigration authorities come to a school, that school is required to contact the district’s legal team to review any documents or warrants. The district will not release student records or information without a court order or subpoena, and ICE agents cannot speak with or remove a student from campus or school buses without legal authorization.

In Memphis, where immigration enforcement is heavy through the Memphis Safe Task Force, media outlets have also confirmed ICE is not directly focusing on schools and added that despite school absences increasing over perceived fear of authorities, no immigrant students have been detained. 

Memphis Shelby County School Board Member Amber Huett-Garcia acknowledged this, though she did say she concurred with Shelby County Mayor Lee Harris’ assessment that ICE is disproportionately targeting Hispanic residents and neighborhoods.

“Our kids feel safe in our [school] buildings, it’s just getting to and from those buildings,” she said in October.

Superintendent Roderick Richmond also said the district hadn’t put any new support measures in place because he had not heard reports of ICE activity on school campuses, although the district did implement special buses for immigrant children in response to the task force.

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.