It’s 2:23 AM on ICE Watch in Nashville, TN

Whatever your politics, you should be highly concerned about the flagrant abuse of power and state-sanctioned violence. It’s only a matter of time before they come for you.

It was a little after two in the morning when I pulled into the CVS parking lot in Madison. The fluorescent lights buzzed, casting an eerie glow over a Metro Nashville Police Department cruiser, an unmarked ICE vehicle, and a state trooper’s car. All three had their lights on, a surreal parade of flashing red and blue against the dark, empty lot. I parked and watched.

Reports later confirmed it was a ‘citizen needs assistance’ call. The MNPD officer stepped out and spoke to the trooper, who claimed an elderly man in a beat-up sedan had flagged him down. The old man was frantic as I observed. The officer followed him to his home to assist, but the ICE agents lingered. Just stood there in the background like ghosts—no explanation, no reason to be there. Just shadowy enforcers of state power under the guise of ‘help.’

ICE hasn’t been around forever. It was born out of the ashes of 9/11, part of the sprawling security state apparatus that ballooned under George W. Bush’s Homeland Security Act in 2002. It was a political project wrapped in the rhetoric of ‘safety’ and ‘protection,’ but in reality, it’s always been about something else. Detain, deport, disappear. The tools of authoritarianism were baked in from the start. ICE is not about public safety. It’s about unchecked power.

Since its inception, ICE’s budget has nearly doubled, its reach extended, and its tactics hardened. Under this administration, they took the gloves off, and the violence became more visceral. People ripped out of cars for old misdemeanors. Families torn apart over paperwork. They don’t need a reason; they just need a target. If they can weaponize one federal agency against our immigrant neighbors, they can weaponize any agency against any of us. Today, it’s ICE targeting undocumented residents. Tomorrow, it could be the FBI targeting protesters. The next day, the National Guard targeting striking workers. Once we normalize state power being used to surveil, detain, and terrorize certain groups, it’s only a matter of time before those same tactics are turned on the rest of us. Because authoritarianism never stops at the border. It metastasizes.

Later that night, we tailed an ICE vehicle as it sped down Gallatin Pike. It veered into the left lane, cut across traffic, and lit up its sirens to pull over a man in a small, rusted-out sedan. We pulled over too, trying to record. The ICE agents noticed us immediately and flipped on their high beams, blinding our cameras, trying to keep us from seeing what they were doing. We could still make out their outline as they ripped the man out of his car, cuffed him, and threw him in the back of their SUV. Moments later, they sped off with his car, leaving nothing but our lingering shock at the audacity of it all. You can watch this video here.

We decided to follow them to Planet Fitness. Two ICE vehicles, a state trooper, and now they were pissed. They boxed us in, lights flashing, their faces hard and impassive behind jet-black tinted windows. Two more ICE vehicles slinked in behind them, joining their vampiric cavalry but keeping their distance—because we were out of their jurisdiction. ICE agents stayed in their cars, watching, waiting, biding their time. The state trooper, however, made a beeline for my window, demanding our IDs, barking about how we allegedly ran a red light and didn’t have the correct registration on file. We were two white women without the proper paperwork. But instead of ripping us out of the car and hauling us away, the trooper kept peppering us with questions and eventually made his way back to his vehicle to ensure we had no outstanding warrants. We stalled them as long as we could—fumbled with the registration, acted like we didn’t know how to sign the forms, asked erraneous questions to distract…anything to buy time. You can watch the video here. And the whole time, we knew why we were still sitting in that car and had the privilege of stalling them because we were white. Because ICE was more interested in terrorizing immigrants than punishing us for not having the correct paperwork. That’s how this system works—it doesn’t matter what the law says. It matters who they decide to enforce it against.

This illustrates what state-sanctioned terror looks like. This represents what your tax dollars are funding. ICE, a rogue agency with a history of authoritarian overreach, is collaborating with the Tennessee Highway Patrol, even though there is NO signed formal agreement, called 287g, permitting this partnership. (I’ve heard that Governor Lee’s special session immigration legislation may have provided the permission structure, but this is dubious.) On May 5th, Democratic State Reps and Senators representing Nashville sent a scathing letter to the Tennessee Department of Homeland Security and the Tennessee Highway Patrol, demanding answers about the state’s involvement in the Nashville ICE Action. The letter laid out 13 critical questions about the use of state resources, the role of ICE, and the violations of statutory duty by state troopers. Most of those questions remain unanswered.

The 287(g) program allows local law enforcement agencies to partner with ICE to conduct federal immigration enforcement formally. It’s a dangerous, abusive program that has been used to terrorize immigrant communities across the country, giving police departments and sheriff’s offices federal authority to act as ICE agents. There is no formal contract, no memorandum of understanding, and no legal basis for THP to collaborate with ICE as they did on May 4th. So what were they doing out there? And who authorized it? Suppose the state’s law enforcement can deputize themselves as federal immigration enforcers without a formal agreement. What’s stopping them from doing it again, expanding this rogue operation, and targeting even more people?

According to THP’s vacuous response to the caucus, on May 4th, THP made 369 traffic stops that night, with fewer than 10 of those stops leading to detainments. Meanwhile, ICE, which by its own admission had no formal agreement to operate alongside THP, detained 94 people—almost 10 times as many. They claim they were targeting violent criminals and gang members, and following the raid, DHS stated that in this operation, they had caught a child sex predator and a Tren de Aragua member; however, no local reporters have been able to corroborate the statement. Additionally, we have evidence highlighting that some of those detained had appropriate paperwork but were still detained and have yet to be released. Regardless, the numbers don’t lie—most of those arrested were guilty of nothing more than “looking” like they weren’t from here.

Nashville has been under siege for the last week, and it’s been utter hell. Our already tapped-out immigration groups are drowning in requests for help from terrified families—mothers separated from their children, workers picked up and disappeared in the dead of night. Businesses have closed early because entire neighborhoods are too scared to step outside. And every time we think it can’t get worse, it does. We want to believe that we deserve a better world, but the end of this nightmare feels nowhere in sight.

I knew running for this position that I could serve under this future of Tennessee, knowing that the next few decades of politics will be fraught with destruction, chaos and death. We’re already seeing it play out on our streets, and it will only get worse. No longer is politics about hanging out with celebrities, book signings, and ribbon cuttings. If you’re serious about public service, you will have to put your body on the line for your constituents. That is what you’re signing up for. And I want to lift up those electeds already doing the work, especially our Metro immigrant caucus—those out here on ICE Watch, documenting every move, staying up until dawn to protect our communities. It takes courage to stand up against the state’s machinery of oppression, and we need to be courageous so that others may find the courage to do the same.

As Antonio Gramsci once said, “The old world is dying, and the new world struggles to be born: now is the time of monsters.” And we are living through that monstrous time now. We have to organize through this and through what’s to come. We have to bolster community connections, defend our neighbors, and protect each other—even if it means sacrificing our own comfort, even if it means facing down the monsters ourselves. Because if we don’t, who will?

What You Can Do Right Now in Nashville:

1. Report ICE Activity to Music City Migra Watch: Follow them on their Instagram account. Call 615.933.8409. Get photos, videos, vehicle plates, and agent details. Share the nearest landmark. Stay and record if you feel safe doing so.

2. Support Mutual Aid for Impacted Families: Donate to The Remix to provide immediate financial relief to families. Sign up for their ongoing programming training allies on deportation defense.

3. Contribute to Legal Support for Impacted Families: Support the TIRRC’s and the Community Foundation’s Belonging Fund to help those detained and their families.

4. Get Local: Don’t wait to do the right thing. Watch this video to learn what to do if you see ICE in your neighborhood! Educate yourself on community defense (click here to read Community Defense from ICE Raids and Deportation information), train your neighbors, and start a Signal chat to start organizing. We’re going to need every ounce of courage we’ve got to get through the next few years.