Nashville Mayor says government resources are being stretched by federal immigration inquiry

Freddie O’Connell speaking before the Rotary Club of Nashville Monday (Photo by Sky Arnold)

Nashville Mayor Freddie O’Connell rolled out some of the key details of his proposed $3.8 billion budget, including a historic investment in schools, to business and community leaders Monday morning, but ended up talking a lot about the recent criticism he’s faced on illegal immigration.

Speaking before at the Rotary Club of Nashville, O’Connell reaffirmed that his office has done nothing to warrant the investigations now underway in the U.S. House Judiciary and Homeland Security committees, though the mayor said both are taxing vital Metro resources.

“We have stayed compliant with state and federal law, and we will demonstrate that as often as we are asked,” said O’Connell. “But I think everyone in this room understands that uncertainty creates risk and right now the level of uncertainty for Nashville has never been higher. We are going to respond appropriately to all inquiries, which takes significant resources. If you have not received a response from me or someone in my office, and I know we have several members of our team here, you should understand that the level of scrutiny on Nashville does consume actual resources of actual people.”

Republican lawmakers launched the investigations at the request of Tennessee Congressmen Andy Ogles, R-5th District, and Mark Green, R-7th District, who both represent sections of Davidson County.  In a letter sent to O’Connell’s office, leaders of the two committees expressed concern about the mayor’s response to a recent Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) action that arrested nearly 200 people.

“Instead of supporting those law enforcement efforts to protect Tennessee residents, you condemned ICE’s immigration enforcement actions. You also announced a “partnership” with local activist organizations to create a fund to raise money to “support” aliens, including those “affected by the ICE [enforcement actions],” wrote leaders of the committees.

The letter also claimed O’Connell’s recent executive order requiring Metro emergency services employees to report interactions with ICE within one business day could have a “chilling effect” on law enforcement’s communications with the federal agency.

In recent days O’Connell has additionally faced criticism following his office’s release of the names of ICE agents and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s decision to place Nashville on a list of sanctuary cities. The department did not provide an explanation why Nashville made the list and later deleted it altogether following opposition from the National Sheriff’s Association.

O’Connell said Monday that his office believes some of the arrests ICE made were actually legal residents and attempted to reassure leaders that he supports efforts to curb border-related crime.

“We are 100 percent committed to the project of eliminating violent gangs, recovering illegal weapons, ending human trafficking and I will say our police department has been working with state and federal authorities both before I took office and since I took office to do exactly that,” said O’Connell.

The controversy around illegal immigration has taken attention away from the Mayor’s budget which is set for a public hearing in Metro Council tonight.

Among the key provisions is a historic 13 percent increase in school funding. That extra funding will provide teachers and staff with a 3 percent raise and $64 million of it will allow the district to continue programs originally created through federal COVID funding, including support for college and career readiness, mental health, and safety.

District leaders believe those programs have helped drive improvements in achievement, growth, and graduation rates. O’Connell echoed that support by highlighting some of the gains students have made through the programs.

“It helped us create the Scholars portfolio that offers not just summer learning recovery but also advanced tutoring that has left Metro Schools as the only large urban school district for two years in a row to be in the top ten across the country for both reading and math,” said O’Connell. “So we are doing a lot of important continuity of what works and then we’re making sound investments in teachers, as well as textbooks alongside that historic investment.”

Mayor O’Connell’s proposed budget still needs approval from Metro Council and the Metro Nashville Public Schools Board of Education.