ICE agents arrest a man at the Wilson County Courthouse

NASHVILLE, TN - Yesterday, more people were arrested at the Wilson County Courthouse in a troubling and escalating pattern of ICE detentions of people who have come to Middle Tennessee state courts in good faith to respond to traffic tickets. Many of those arrested have pending immigration applications and are not subject to immediate removal, making their detentions particularly cruel and arbitrary. These immigration arrests have also recently occurred on the traffic docket in Robertson County General Sessions court.

Lisa Sherman Luna, Executive Director of Tennessee Immigrant and Refugee Rights Coalition released the following statement:

“The images of a person who showed up to a local courthouse to respond to a traffic ticket being pinned down by multiple plainclothes ICE agents yesterday are deeply disturbing. We believe that all of us in Tennessee and in America, regardless of your race, your immigration status, or your profession, deserve to be treated fairly by the government. Those who appear in General Sessions court to respond to minor traffic citations deserve their day in court, and don’t deserve to be abducted, arrested and detained by ICE. It is profoundly disappointing that local judges and court officials have allowed our state courts to become sites of violent and cruel civil arrests.

"ICE’s targeting of people in local courts is further proof of the continued weaponization and misuse of our legal system to advance President Trump’s mass deportation agenda. This violent targeting of those who are trying to take care of minor traffic violations in local courtrooms by arresting and detaining them is only tearing apart their families, fostering fear of law enforcement and our legal system, and sending ripples of harm through our communities.

"When a presidential administration promises mass deportations, this violent crackdown in our communities is the result. Instead of actually making our communities safer or helping our families build good lives, families are afraid to interact in public or address their traffic tickets, children find themselves separated from their parents, and our communities live in fear and distrust. This is why we have to speak out against the cruelty of arresting our neighbors at courthouses and instead prioritize community safety and trust."

The Tennessee Immigrant & Refugee Rights Coalition (TIRRC) is a statewide, immigrant and refugee-led collaboration whose mission is to build power, amplify our voices, and organize communities to advocate for our rights in order to build a stronger, more inclusive Tennessee where people of all nationalities, immigration statuses, and racial identities can belong and thrive. Since its founding in 2001, TIRRC has grown from a grassroots network of community leaders into one of the most diverse and effective coalitions of its kind, a model for emerging immigrant rights organizations in the Southeast and throughout the United States.