NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WKRN) — Since Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s and the Tennessee Highway Patrol’s "public safety operation" in early May, the Tennessee Immigrant and Refugee Rights Coalition said they've been requesting records from the state's Department of Homeland Security ever since.

"Unfortunately, all of our requests have been largely ignored," Lisa Sherman Luna, Executive Director of TIRRC, told News 2. "The documents have been incomplete or heavily redacted, video footage that we have requested has been delayed to the point of denial."

TIRRC says the records will shed more light on the joint operation and determine whether agents operated within the law and followed due process.

"We need this openness," Metro Councilmember Ginny Welsch told News 2. "We need this accountability to hold these state actors accountable for their bad actions."

Professor Jonathan Abel at UC Law San Francisco represents one of the people detained by ICE who has been in custody since May and is still being held at a detention facility. Abel said during his client's traffic stop, there were a number of constitutional violations including an illegal search of the vehicle.

"My client has no criminal history — has never been in trouble before," Abel said. "My client has been locked away since May 9 in a detention facility as the Highway Patrol and others have records that could set my client free."

According to the lawsuit, DHS has yet to turn over video of this traffic stop despite acknowledging a check payment of $161.46 to obtain a copy. Since the immigration enforcement operation, TIRRC said they've only been able to identify about half of the nearly 200 people detained.

"If you don't know who these people are, and you can't give us that information, that means that you just pick them up based on the color of their skin because you obviously didn't know their immigration status when you swept them away,” Welsch added.

News 2 reached out to the THP regarding this lawsuit, and they referred us to the Tennessee Attorney General's Office, who has not replied to our request for comment. News 2 also reached out to the Governor Bill Lee's Office, and there has not yet been a response.

News Source : https://www.wkrn.com/news/local-news/nashville/advocates-demand-access-dhs-records-suit-ice-thp/