D.C. Republicans pile on Nashville mayor over ICE response — and imply more action in city
After Ogles — flanked by several state lawmakers and Metro Nashville Council Member David Benton — reasserted a previous call to investigate O'Connell during a Memorial Day news conference, an official with the Trump administration is now weighing in. Tom Homan, the White House's executive associate director of enforcement and removal operations or 'border czar,' appeared on Fox News on May 27 to criticize O'Connell.
'I've said from day one — you can not cooperate with ICE if that's what you want to do, but you can't get in our way and you can't impede our efforts,' Homan said. 'If you cross that line, we'll seek prosecution.'
Those comments stem from the mayor's Executive Order 30, which lays out a process and timeline for city departments to report communications with federal immigration authorities to the mayor's office. O'Connell amended the executive order in the middle of a weeklong ICE operation in Nashville in early May, adjusting the timeline so that the mayor's office is notified within one business day rather than within several.
Homan also seemed to point toward another escalation in immigration enforcement in Nashville, saying he would 'flood the zone' with agencies including the FBI, the Drug Enforcement Administration, ICE and U.S. Marshals.
'If he wants to push back and support sanctuary cities, that means we 'flood the zone,'' Homan continued. 'We'll flood the zone in the neighborhoods to find the bad guy, we'll flood the zone at work sites to find the bad guy, but we're going to do it and he's not going to stop us.'
Nashville is not a sanctuary city, nor is any city in the state of Tennessee. In fact, sanctuary cities are banned outright in Tennessee and have been for about seven years. The Tennessee legislature passed another law during a special session at the start of 2025 that, in part, criminalizes local officials who support sanctuary policies for immigrants.
Asked whether O'Connell would be charged with obstructing ICE officials, Homan said, 'We'll see.' Homan confirmed the congressional investigation Ogles has called for and said he 'cannot confirm or deny' if ICE is also investigating O'Connell. Homan added that he planned to come to Nashville himself 'in the near future' and said he'd be open to meeting with O'Connell.
During the appearance, Homan was also briefly critical of The Belonging Fund, which was established in the midst of the Nashville ICE operation to provide financial support to nonprofit organizations offering emergency assistance to immigrant families. That fund is not city-run but instead facilitated by the Community Foundation of Middle Tennessee, which notes on its website that donations to the fund are made possible solely by individual donors and private organizations, meaning no government contributions are included. Benton, the Metro Nashville Council member, called for a state or federal audit of the fund during his Memorial Day appearance with Ogles.
On May 28, the Metro Nashville Council's Immigrant Caucus issued a news release condemning Benton's remarks on Memorial Day, calling them "racist propaganda," "inaccurate" and "inflammatory." The caucus also called for Benton, who represents part of Antioch where the ICE sweeps were focused, to resign.
'Councilmember Benton does not deserve to hold public office,' the release reads. 'His conduct and comments are unbecoming of an elected official, particularly one representing a district with a significant Latino population.'
In an additional statement provided to The Tennessean, the Immigrant Caucus also backed O'Connell and other local leaders who have come out in support of Nashville's immigrant population.
"It's clear that this fight will not be over anytime soon and so there is much more that needs to be done to support our immigrant neighbors," the statement reads. "The attacks against our neighbors and Nashville leaders is founded in an ideology that essentially says 'if you stand with brown people you are a criminal.'"
The mayor's office has a history of publicizing Community Foundation funds established to respond to particular events or crises, like the Nashville School Violence Support & Healing Fund created to support victims of the January 2025 Antioch High shooting.
O'Connell, for his part, repeatedly stated during the operation that the amended executive order likely wouldn't have changed the city's response in any way, nor would it have empowered the city to share details publicly on a looming immigration enforcement operation beyond communications between city departments.
O'Connell's office had not responded to The Tennessean's request for comment by early afternoon on May 28. O'Connell has previously declined to comment on Ogles' earlier calls for an investigation.
Rep. Andy Biggs (R-Ariz.), a member of the House Oversight and Judiciary committees, also made an appearance on Fox News to criticize O'Connell on May 28, albeit more briefly than Homan. Biggs called the executive order 'outrageous' and said it incentivizes people to 'not cooperate with ICE.'
Biggs said that makes ICE operations 'more dangerous' for both federal agents and neighborhoods, since 'ICE is going to have to go into those neighborhoods' to find people that, purportedly, are 'hiding out there.'
'It's actually going to result in more arrests and deportations because if they get there and there's a bad guy and they happen to be with people that we wouldn't even be looking at, they're going to get arrested as well if they're illegally in the country,' Biggs said.
Austin Hornbostel is the Metro reporter for The Tennessean. Have a question about local government you want an answer to? Reach him at ahornbostel@tennessean.com.
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This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: D.C. Republicans pile on Nashville mayor, imply more ICE action
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