President Trump’s Immigration Czar Tom Homan has repeatedly warned against interfering with ICE attempts to arrest those in this country illegally. That is exactly what State Representative Aftyn Behn (D-Nashville) appeared to be doing over the weekend as she, by her own admission on Instagram, worked to “delay and distract” ICE officers from carrying out illegal immigration enforcement. “We’re stalling them,” she said while also referring to ICE officers as “…little vampires who only come out at night.” The bizarre video in which Representative Behn is seen repeatedly toying with her hair and smoothing her eyebrows, ended with Behn receiving a THP ticket for running a red light.
Add to that six words uttered recently by Police Chief, John Drake, which seem to confirm the growing public perception that Metro Nashville officials consider Nashville to be a ‘sanctuary city.’
Without actually using the politically-charged term, Drake told reporters recently, “We do not work with ICE.”
That fits the definition of a sanctuary city offered by organs of the left that support the idea.
Vera, an organization that works to end what it calls “mass incarceration”, writes “There is no official definition, but in general ‘sanctuary cities’ are jurisdictions that prioritize the safety and well-being of all residents by limiting cooperation with federal immigration authorities …”
The left-leaning Global Refuge agrees, “There is no official definition of what constitutes a “sanctuary city” or state/jurisdiction. In general, it refers to a policy that limits or defines the extent to which a local/state government will share information with federal immigration law officers.”
In other words, Nashville city officials, from Mayor Freddie O’Connell on down, have laid out policies that make Nashville a ‘sanctuary city’ while doing rhetorical black flips to avoid using the term.
That may be because Sanctuary Cities are illegal in the State of Tennessee. The General Assembly has passed:
- A 2018 Tennessee law, HB 2315, banned local governments from adopting sanctuary city policies, allowing citizens to file civil suits against jurisdictions that violate the ban and enabling the state to withhold economic development funds from non-compliant local governments.
- In February of 2025, Governor Bill Lee signed into law a Bill which further strengthened these restrictions. This legislation makes it a Class E felony, punishable by up to six years in prison and a $3,000 fine, for local officials to vote for or adopt sanctuary city policies. It also empowers the Tennessee Attorney General to initiate removal proceedings for convicted officials and incentivizes local governments to participate in federal immigration enforcement programs like 287(g).
Sanctuary policies, defined as those limiting communication with federal officials about immigration statue, could be interpreted as a violation of Tennessee law.
Key leaders in the General Assembly recently told State News Foundation sanctuary city policies will not be tolerated. “Republicans will not allow any city in our state to undermine our law or become a safe-haven for criminal activity by illegal immigrants,” said Tennessee House Majority leader, Rep. William Lamberth (R-Sumner Co).
The Majority Leader of the Senate, Senator Jack Johnson, agreed, telling SNF, “We made it very clear. In fact, we put penalties in place for any political subdivision in the state of Tennessee that put itself out as a sanctuary city or county. We will not stand for that. That’s already against state law.”
The 2018 law allows civil cases to be filed against elected officials in Chancery Court, but it is unclear who would bring a Class E felony case under the new, tougher 2025 law. However, the AG is authorized to initiate legal action against officials who violate the law. Upon a conviction, the official could be removed from office. Skrmetti has a record of aggressively pursuing immigration matters with the Biden administration.
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Brian Wilson is Managing Editor of State News Foundation.
Photo “John Drake” by Metropolitan Nashville Police Department.
