PRESS

PRESS RELEASE FOR IMMEDIATE PUBLICATION

Thursday July 24th, 2019

Contact: Vanessa Delgado: themixtn@gmail (615) 873-0031 ,

Brenda Perez: (615) 554-5674

On Monday, July 22, two Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents came to the home of a Hermitage resident and trapped him and his son in their car for hours in an attempt to detain him. The MIX Nashville, whose members were one of the first to arrive on the scene is releasing video footage recorded by the father from inside the van. The video reveals ICE officers making verbal threats such as “We’ll just call the cops and they’ll arrest you, and then when they’re done with you in the jail, then we’ll get you,” and threatening to come back for his wife, in an effort to bait the victim into voiding his rights by exiting the vehicle and volunteering to be arrested. “What these videos show is that ICE called MNPD, long before the arrival of a crowd, to help them pressure this father and execute the arrest,” states Cathy Carrillo, who was at the scene Monday morning. The ICE agents lacked the proper warrants to make an arrest, were dressed in civilian clothing and drove an unmarked car.

https://www.facebook.com/mixnashville/videos/2105602209734333/

A critical tool at the disposal of the ICE agents was the presence of Officers from the Metro Nashville Police Department on the scene. Though Metro Police officials have confirmed that no crime had been committed, MNPD officers responded promptly to the request of the ICE agents. While there, MNPD acted as though they were present to assist in the detention, and attempted to block friends and neighbors from communicating with or assisting the father and son.

Following this event, local officials including Mayor David Briley and Sheriff Daron Hall made statements to the effect that MNPD and Davidson County Sheriff's Office do not use local resources to co-operate with or enforce ICE orders and were only on hand to ensure the safety of neighbors. These statements stand in stark contrast to actual practices as evidenced by the above recordings of the events of Monday, July 22, and abundant documentation of the Sheriff’s Office’s repeated cooperation with ICE detainers in the Davidson County jail and contract to house ICE detainees in DCSO beds, which is where this father would presumably have been taken by ICE to be detained on Monday.

The MIX is also releasing a statement from the father, thanking his neighbors for acting quickly to keep his family together and encourage others to know and exercise their rights.

https://www.facebook.com/mixnashville/videos/435805800359022/

The MIX is calling upon our Mayor, Sheriff and Metro Council to account for why our resources and personnel are being deployed in support of ICE, in violation of stated metro policy that local police do not actively cooperate with ICE. “When our city leaders say one thing, but our law enforcement agencies do another, it poses a grave threat to public trust and to the safety of Nashville families” said Brenda Perez, member of The MIX.

The MIX invites any and all Nashvillians and supporters of safe communities everywhere to join us in calling on our public servants to do the right thing for all Nashvillians by signing our petition to investigate the misuse of public safety resources at bit.ly/investigatemnpd

Movements Including X or the MIX is a grassroots organization that focuses on community organizing and immigration rights. More information can be found at https://www.facebook.com/mixnashville/, and https://www.instagram.com/themixnashville, and https://www.twitter.com/themixnashville.