It’s late in the evening in South Nashville, and it’s the seventh day of a week’s immigration sweep. Followed by unmarked cars’ federal ice agents, Tennessee troopers ran down abandoned streets in this predominantly Hispanic neighborhood. “Are you in Harding? Now – this white thing is back there too.” These are volunteers from the immigration advocacy group, Remix Tennessee. They are trying to document and confuse what they say is an unprecedented partnership between state troopers and ice agents. “Yeah, that’s a lot of fear in the community. For example, I’m talking to the families of people who want to self-denial because I don’t want to experience what they’ve experienced.” Self-abolization is something the Trump administration has been promoting. We started offering charter flights and money to those who chose it. That night, 24-year-old Gisselle Huerta and 25-year-old Stephanie Alas arrive at the scene of the traffic stop. “This car is drawn in. It’s ice.” Here is a state trooper car. Here we see an unmarked car with ice agents standing there. “So they just pulled someone over, and we came out here and tried to understand why. Do you need something from us? Are you okay? State troopers usually can’t enforce immigration laws, and ice agents can’t pull cars without a possible reason or warrant. But this new strategy that Highway Patrol called Co-op Public Safety Works meant that the routine traffic stops were over with immigration arrests. That’s exactly what happened to Anna and her fiancé. She asked to remain anonymous for fear of deportation. “So when he pulled us, I ask him, ‘Why are you pulling us?’ And all he says is, ‘Your shade is too dark.’ He didn’t ask us about the car. Next, we have a flashlight in our car. Anna said she was not given a quote and was taken into custody on the ice. She kept it in the cell for hours. “There’s no space, so there’s over 20 each. There’s only one bathroom. They start processing us one by one. Like it took a long time. It’s hot there.” She was released and said she was not given a reason. Ice says they are targeting undocumented immigrants with criminal records. However, Anna’s fiancee, who has no criminal history, has been arrested. He was sent to Louisiana detention facility. During an interview with her, he called. “My son is scared of everything that’s happening in general. He thinks I’m not going to go home from work. People are scared. Everyone wants to leave. During the last week of operation, the Tennessee Highway Patrol said there have been 660 stops due to traffic violations. Of these stops, about 200 people have led to immigrant arrests, with about half of them making pre- or pending criminal charges. In a statement to the Times, the Tennessee Highway Patrol said the recent operations have focused solely on the implementation of Tennessee’s traffic laws, and the immigration measures have been handled separately by federal authorities. The Tennessee governor said their role is to become partners of ICE and the operation is an effort to remove criminals from the streets. Ice called the operation a success. “This is what I call home. Like I said, in 27 years, we’ve never seen anything like this before.
