NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WKRN) — Immigration and Customs Enforcement activity in Nashville over the weekend sparked fear, confusion and frustration for Nashville's immigrant community. Area organizations have demanded accountability.

"They are Nashvillians. They are taxpayers," Metro Council Member for District 30, Sandra Sepulveda, said. "They are the people building this city, [and] they are the people that make this city run."

"Nashville is a community that welcomes all its residents," Luis Mata, Government Relations Manager with the Tennessee Immigrant and Refugee Rights Coalition said. "And what we saw was this arbitrary rounding up of parents on their way home."

Troopers with the Tennessee Highway Patrol said they made around 150 traffic stops as part of a
"public safety operation" which they said were "in areas with a history of serious traffic crashes and suspected gang activity." ICE authorities were also there, but there have been no answers about how ICE got involved.

"We've had deportations happening for months now, but it's been [on a] very small-scale compared to what happened over the weekend," Sepulveda added.

THP troopers and ICE targeted a predominately Latino part of South Nashville.

"This reeks of racial profiling and unconstitutional discrimination," Mata said.

"There's certainly been a traumatic increase in the rate of people being detained, and I think you have a consequent level of reaction in the community by way of fear," Nashville immigration attorney, Steven Simerlein, explained.

Simerlein added that recent ICE activity happened outside his office on Nolensville Pike on Sunday morning.

In the aftermath, with many in the community feeling scared and angry, Simerlein told News 2 the best thing a concerned resident can do is seek legal help.

"To some extent, fear is a product of ignorance as well as procrastination," Simerlein said. "I've met many clients who, really, have delayed far too long to see someone like me or practitioners who can offer them an assessment."

Metro's immigration council said that it would provide resources and advice to those affected by the weekend's activity and any future ICE interactions.

"Make sure not to sign anything without a lawyer present, make sure to record anything you can, and carry your valid US documents that you do have around with you," Sepulveda said.

Meanwhile, TIRRC said they are working to reunite families.

"We are ensuring that everybody who was impacted, every person who was impacted, has their fair date in court and that families can be reunited as soon as possible," Mata said.

However, Mata said the damage to Nashville's sense of safety has already been done.

"At the end of the day, this leads to trauma, isolation, and fear that weakens our collective fabric of our community," Mata said.

News Source : https://www.wkrn.com/news/local-news/nashville/leaders-address-rising-fears-ice/