Rep. Andy Ogles (R-TN) has demanded that an investigation be opened into Democratic Nashville Mayor Freddie O’Connell after he amended an executive order tracking “immigration communications.”
The order requires that any communication between federal immigration authorities and a Metro emergency services department be reported.
The amended order followed O’Connell’s criticism of recent immigration enforcement actions taking place in the city. “This type of federal enforcement action is not focused on making us safer and leaves people in our community fearing any interaction with law enforcement when there is a crime occurring,” he wrote in a letter. “We will be seeking the names of those detained.”
Ogles has now called for an investigation into the matter.
“This executive order is not a transparency initiative. It is already being operationalized as a political weapon,” he wrote in a letter to House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan and House Homeland Security Committee Chairman Mark Green. “Just days after the mayor’s announcement, the city’s Community Review Board posted on X urging residents who have ‘experienced or witnessed an immigration-related event’ to call a city-monitored hotline and file a complaint—a move clearly designed to mobilize left-wing activists to monitor and interfere with immigration enforcement.”
“If any municipal personnel are impeding removals, facilitating evasion, or interfering with ICE operations, such conduct is at best inappropriate and may be illegal,” Ogles’ letter adds.
“Instead of applauding the heroic efforts of law enforcement for removing violent criminals, drug traffickers, and even a convicted child sex predator from our streets, Nashville’s mayor chose to grandstand—penning an executive order directing city agencies to track and potentially undermine cooperation with ICE,” the congressman said in a statement. “I want to remind Freddie that complying with federal immigration law is not optional. It is appalling that the mayor is using his office to obstruct lawful enforcement and shield criminals—not just putting neighborhoods at risk, but eroding the rule of law.”
