Metro Council members call for investigation into Nashville probation officers assisting ICE agents

Metro Council members are asking the General Session Court to investigate reports that Nashville's probation director and his staff are working with Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents to arrest and detain individuals under probation supervision. 

In a letter Wednesday, a group of council members called upon the General Sessions judges and court administrator Warner Hassell to ensure that the city's probation department immediately ceases assisting ICE on civil immigration matters. 

WSMV first reported that probation director Robert Green and probation officers have provided ICE agents information on individuals since at least 2017.

Records show the county's probation department, which operates under Hassell, alerted federal officials to appointments and shared home and work addresses. The Metro employees also proactively shared personal information for other individuals, including those listed as emergency contacts of those under probation. 

"The Probation Department, as stated on its website, 'has the responsibility of ensuring that probationers comply with the conditions of court-ordered probation,'" states the letter obtained Wednesday by The Tennessean. "The actions of the department regarding ICE coordination directly contradict its responsibility, as they deter probationers from compliance."

The reported collaboration between probation officers and ICE creates a "significant deterrent to these rehabilitation efforts," jeopardizes the well-being and safety of residents and the community, and increases mistrust among immigrant Nashvillians, the letter states.

Council member Colby Sledge circulated the letter for signatures Wednesday afternoon. 

"Metro Council continues to be told that ICE coordination with Metro agencies isn't happening, yet we continue to discover that it is," Sledge said in a statement. "Such actions damage relationships between immigrant Nashvillians and their local government, while endangering all Nashvillians by eroding trust in our criminal justice system."

"Metro Council needs a full account of the extent of this coordination in order to set clear, transparent policies that begin to rebuild trust and protect our communities," he said. 

Hassell told The Tennessean Wednesday that there would be an internal evaluation of what was shared by the probation department. The evaluation could lead to "possible modification in the future," he said.

He said that the probation department has been in communication with the Metro Legal concerning what "we've done in the past," but that he could not share details, citing attorney-client confidentiality. Hassell told WSMV that Metro Legal determined their release of requested information to ICE was applicable with state and federal laws.  

Mayor David Briley called the recent reports "troubling information," and said in a statement Wednesday his administration is reviewing the situation. 

"This apparently started in 2017. This is absolutely unacceptable under my administration and it does not reflect the character of our welcoming city," Briley said in a statement to The Tennessean. "All of our residents need to feel safe in our community."

"I will take every action possible to ensure these actions never happen again," he said. 

Stephanie Teatro, co-executive director of the Tennessee Immigrant and Refugee Rights Coalition, said Tuesday night after the WSMV story broke, that the time for public statements and promises is over. She is calling on Metro leaders to create clear and transparent policies that draw a line between the work of city agencies and federal immigration enforcement. 

"The lack of clear policy directives allows individuals to pursue their own anti-immigrant agenda rather than following the mission and best interest of their office and the city, and lets ICE use public employees as aids in their enforcement operations," Teatro said in a statement. "In this historic moment, we need to go beyond welcoming and take real action to protect immigrant families."

An standoff between Hermitage neighbors and ICE in July, spurred national reaction and refocused attention on immigration enforcement in Middle Tennessee.

About a dozen community members formed a human-chain around a van to prevent federal agents from arresting a father and 12-year-old boy. ICE called Metro Nashville Police Department officers for assistance, but officers sat in the street monitoring the event.

Agents ultimately drove away from the scene, raising more questions about the role Nashville authorities play in immigration enforcement.

Council member reflects on 2017 effort

Reports of Nashville probation officers' entanglement with ICE agents has At-large Council member Bob Mendes reflecting on a pair of 2017 failed immigration bills. 

Dubbed the "Nashville Together" ordinances, the measures sought to prevent Metro from using city funds and facilities to enforce federal immigration law.

It included a prohibition on agreeing to detainer requests from federal immigration officials unless they are accompanied by a federal warrant signed by a judge. It also would have prohibited Metro employees from requesting information about a person's immigration or citizenship status.

But while it had momentum among council members, the efforts were derailed when former Mayor Megan Barry urged the council to "reconsider" the immigration ordinance after Metro Director of Law Jon Cooper issued a legal opinion that said the ordinance was not enforceable.

Cooper said that under state law the council cannot prohibit Davidson County Sheriff Daron Hall, who controls the city's jails and is an independently elected official, from cooperating with federal authorities on immigration.

Hall opposed the bills. Republicans in the Tennessee legislature led opposition to the Nashville proposal as well, condemning the council and threatening to overturn a proposal they alleged would turn Nashville into a "sanctuary city" for immigrants in the nation illegally.

Mendes, who sponsored the bill with Sledge, called Metro legal's opinion "damaging" because of the inability under council process to amend legislation following second-reading votes. The legislation was withdrawn. 

Had the 2017 ordinances been approved, the actions of the probation department feeding ICE information would have violated Metro law. 

"I am disappointed to learn that the General Sessions probation office may be using Metro time and resources to help enforce federal civil immigration law," Mendes said in a statement to The Tennessean. 

"Nashville has many families with mixed citizenship, including undocumented family members. We are compelled to love our neighbors. Unfortunately, when city employees help enforce civil immigration law, it scares people away from schools, health care and the police. Nashville should do better."

Mendes, who was the only candidate to win a countywide council seat outright in the general election, said he is expecting the matter be revisited during the upcoming new council term. 

Yihyun Jeong covers politics in Nashville for USA TODAY NETWORK - TENNESSEE. Reach her at yjeong@tennessean.com and follow her on Twitter @yihyun_jeong.

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