Best Investigation in Nashville in 2026: Nashville Banner on 2025 ICE Raids
True investigative journalism is about putting in the work to find out the truth. After Tennessee Highway Patrol and federal immigration officials made roughly 600 traffic stops and arrested dozens of people in South Nashville in May 2025, the Nashville Banner got to work. Reporters Sarah Grace Taylor, Araceli Crescencio and Stephen Elliott spent months sorting through arrest records and more than 52 hours of body and dash-cam footage (made public through litigation by the Tennessee Immigrant and Refugee Rights Coalition). This culminated in a comprehensive February report bringing to light some of the most heinous acts from that operation and debunking claims made by the state and federal officers.
