NASHVILLE, TN – Yesterday, more people were arrested at the Wilson County Courthouse in a troubling and escalating pattern of ICE detentions of people who have come to Middle Tennessee state courts in good faith to respond to traffic tickets. Many of those arrested have pending immigration applications and are not subject to immediate removal, making their detentions particularly cruel and arbitrary. These immigration arrests have also recently occurred on the traffic docket in Robertson County General Sessions court.
Lisa Sherman Luna, Executive Director of Tennessee Immigrant and Refugee Rights Coalition released the following statement:
“The images of a person who showed up to a local courthouse to respond to a traffic ticket being pinned down by multiple plainclothes ICE agents yesterday are deeply disturbing. We believe that all of us in Tennessee and in America, regardless of your race, your immigration status, or your profession, deserve to be treated fairly by the government. Those who appear in General Sessions court to respond to minor traffic citations deserve their day in court, and don’t deserve to be abducted, arrested and detained by ICE. It is profoundly disappointing that local judges and court officials have allowed our state courts to become sites of violent and cruel civil arrests…