Three far-left legal groups assisted Tennessee Democrats in filing a lawsuit aimed at halting the National Guard deployment in Memphis.
On Monday, Davidson County Chancellor Patricia Head Moskal denied the Democrats’ request for a temporary restraining order; however, she scheduled a court date for November 3 to determine the temporary injunction order in the lawsuit.
The primary difference between a temporary restraining order and a temporary injunction is that a temporary restraining order typically lasts for a short period. In contrast, a temporary injunction remains in effect until the lawsuit is decided.
The far-left groups that helped file this lawsuit are the National Immigration Law Center (NILC), Democracy Forward Foundation (DFF), and Sherrard Roe Voigt & Harbison, PLC.
They are representing Shelby County Mayor Lee Harris, Shelby County Commissioners Erika Sugarmon, Henri Brooks, and JB Smiley, as well as State Representatives G.A. Hardaway (D-Memphis) and Gaby Salinas (D-Memphis), and State Senator Jeff Yarbro (D-Nashville).
On its website, the NILC says it advances and defends the “rights and opportunities of low-income immigrants and their loved ones.”
The organization started the NILC Immigrant Justice Fund to advocate for immigration policies that “provide a road to U.S. citizenship for all aspiring citizens.”
The NILC has been involved in multiple lawsuits defending the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program against attempts to eliminate it.
The NILC has received grant money from nonprofits that donate to leftist causes. The Open Society Foundations, led by George Soros, provided NILC with over $2 million between 2018 and 2021.
NILC also received money from the Ford Foundation. This nonprofit has given NILC nearly $33 million since 2007.
After President Donald Trump won the 2016 presidential election, DFF was established. According to its website, the DFF has taken the Trump administration to court over 100 times.
Marc Elias, a former lawyer for Hillary Clinton, is the chair of the foundation. Elias was the person who hired the consulting firm Fusion GPS to research Trump, which ultimately led to the creation of the fake Steele Dossier.
Elias founded the Elias Law Group LLP with the intention of “helping Democrats win” and “progressives make change.”
Elias was one of the leading Democratic lawyers who fought against Trump’s legal cases against the 2020 election.
In August, DFF assembled lawyers working in California and Illinois state attorneys’ offices to challenge Trump’s executive orders, as reported by The Daily Signal.
According to Influence Watch, this group received $1 million in 2017 from the Center for American Progress, which is a far-left think tank. Furthermore, DFF received funding from the Sandler Foundation and the Susan Thompson Buffett Foundation, Influence Watch said.
The Sandler Foundation, a philanthropic organization founded by leftist billionaires Herbert and Marion Sandler, donated $16 million to the nonprofit from 2018 to 2023, according to Influence Watch.
The Susan Thompson Buffett Foundation, which has given more than $4 billion to pro-abortion advocacy, gave DFF over $4 million from 2021 to 2023, Influence Watch reported.
In addition to these two, Sherrard Roe Voigt & Harbison, PLC, which is based in Nashville, is currently representing Kilmar Abrego Garcia in his federal human smuggling case. Abrego Garcia, who is an illegal immigrant from El Salvador, has pleaded not guilty to the alleged crimes of unlawfully transporting illegal immigrants in America for financial gain.
Rascoe Dean, who is representing Abrego Garcia from the law firm, is the son of former Nashville Mayor Karl Dean. As mayor, Karl Dean created the city’s Office of New Americans, which is accused of doxing federal law enforcement agents earlier this year.
The law firm has a diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) statement on its website.
“The mission of the Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Committee is to recommend and implement strategic initiatives and programs that will cultivate a diverse, equitable, inclusive, and just environment where diverse individuals may succeed and advance professionally and personally and that will demonstrate the firm’s commitment to these ideals within the firm and to our outside community,” the lawfirm’s website reads.
The law firm also says on its website that “it will invest time and resources to support the professional development and overall well-being of our team members, especially through a commitment to DEI.”
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Zachery Schmidt is the digital editor of The Star News Network. Email tips to Zachery at zschmidt1717@gmail.com.
Photo “Tennessee National Guard in Memphis” by Tennessee National Guard.
