Jassim Jafaf Al-Raash is an illegal alien from Iraq. He first appeared on Nashville area court dockets starting in 2003 with his arrest following a prostitution bust. Since then his record shows a host of escalating entanglements with the law: Disorderly Conduct in 2004, a misdemeanor False Imprisonment charge in 2006, a Theft charge in 2009, a misdemeanor Criminal Trespassing charge in 2008 and Driving Under the Influence twice. He is listed as a registered sex offender in Tennessee databases.
In 2011, records show, a Felony Rape conviction sent him to prison for 10 years. That case is sealed, so there is little information available in public records about the specifics, but when he emerged from prison records show he almost immediate violated the terms of his parole and has been running running from police since.
THIS is just one of the citizens picked up by ICE in recent immigration enforcement sweeps — efforts that lead to the arrest of nearly 200 people in the Nashville area. THIS is just one of the people Nashville Mayor, Freddie O’Connell seem intent on protecting.
In fact, O’Connell described those actually trying to enforce immigration laws as “… people who do not share our values over safety and community.” He accuses ICE of doing “deep community harm.” He also said he was “heartbroken” because many in Nashville are experiencing fear over family separation instead of “the safety we all deserve.”
O’Connell did not mention being “heartbroken” for the victims of the many crimes some of these individuals have carried out against the citizenry of Middle Tennessee. If safety is something the Mayor believes ALL citizen deserve, it is hard to reconcile that with his public position of being against taking dangerous and violent criminals off the street.
Admittedly, it is difficult to track down detailed public information about the past criminal activity for many of those arrested by ICE. In some cases, the Tennessee court records are sealed. In other cases, the outstanding arrests warrants emanate from foreign countries.
Take, for example, the case involving 33-year-old Franklin Oswaldo Velasquez. When arrested during recent immigration enforcement actions, ICE found he was the subject of an INTERPOL Red Notice in connection with an Aggravated Murder case out of El Salvador. The INTERPOL Red Notice is a powerful tool in international law enforcement, often treated as an international arrest warrant. It allows countries to alert other INTERPOL member states about individuals wanted for serious crimes, facilitating their potential arrest and extradition.
Consider the case of 34-year-old Inmar Antonio Penado-Membreno. ICE says his criminal history involves a conviction for Possession with Intent to Manufacture, Deliver and Sell cocaine in Rutherford County.
ICE also points to 39-year-old Carlos Reinaldo Alvarado-Rodriguez of Guatemala who served 4 years on an Aggravated Assault charge.
Nashville Police Chief , John Drake, has gone out of his way to say that officers with the Metro Nashville Police Department “do not work with ICE.” Drake’s statements are hard to understand given many studies showing communities greatly benefit from taking criminals off the street.
A 2021 Study by the Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond found there is an undeniable relationship between crime and the impact it has on a community:
Crime limits the ability of cities and neighborhoods to prosper by negatively affecting the quality of life of residents, causing people to leave the city and generating social and economic decline. Understanding the effectiveness of crime control policies is, therefore, key for communities.
The impact of crime on neighborhoods has been heavily researched. The literature shows that crime (especially violent crime) negatively affects neighborhood growth, increases racial segregation and lowers housing prices.3
At the same time, an unsafe and more dangerous local environment can have significant impact on residents’ incomes and opportunities as well. A substantial amount of research suggests that neighborhoods and the social interactions within them influence individuals’ economic opportunities later in life. “
