In Minneapolis, a high-profile ICE enforcement surge drew national scrutiny after multiple fatal shootings and widespread community backlash. But in Tennessee — with the exception of Memphis — ICE enforcement has generally been less visible, focusing instead on jails and detention centers. That, however, hasn’t slowed the arrest rate.
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement arrested 6,251 people in Tennessee between Jan. 20 and Oct. 15, 2025, according to the Prison Policy Initiative, with the rate of arrests rising throughout the year. From Jan. 20 to May 20, 2025, ICE made 2,509 arrests in Tennessee, about 73 percent of which occurred in jails and other lockups. From May 21 to Oct. 15, there were 3,742 arrests statewide, with 2,754 in detention facilities.
Per capita, Tennessee was among the most aggressive states for ICE arrests in early 2025. Between Jan. 20 and May 20, there were 34.9 arrests per 100,000 residents. Only Texas and Florida ranked higher. This may be surprising to some. Media coverage has generally focused on the most high-profile ICE operations in cities such as Minneapolis and Chicago rather than on the more routine jail-based enforcement happening nationwide. “It’s very hard to report on what’s happening inside jails,” says Wanda Bertram, a spokesperson for the Prison Policy Initiative. “But it’s much easier to report on highly visible public arrests.”
Dozens of Tennessee counties have formal 287(g) agreements with ICE, but jail-based enforcement goes beyond those. A routine traffic stop can lead to booking and fingerprinting, triggering an automatic federal data match. ICE can then issue a detainer and take custody before release. Jail-based detainers are not new — they’ve existed for years, including during the Biden administration. But attorneys working with Nashville-area immigrants say much else has changed since the Trump administration began its deportation push last year. In some cases, ICE has begun detaining immigrants who are doing exactly what the government tells them to do.
Immigration roundups terrorize South Nashville and take residents with no criminal history
“We’ve had so many clients picked up while going to their ICE check-ins and doing everything the right way,” says Kimberly Pedigo, an attorney at Nashville-based law firm Gopal & Pedigo PC. “That didn’t used to happen.”
ICE check-ins are reporting appointments required for some immigrants on ICE’s nondetained docket. They are often for people released from detention, people under an order of supervision, or others in removal proceedings. The schedule varies by case and office, ranging from monthly reporting to less frequent check-ins every few months or annually.
Usually, these check-ins involve routine paperwork and monitoring. Now, in some cases, they’ve become traps. ICE check-ins have been required for years, and ICE has always had discretion to detain immigrants checking in. But as long as they hadn’t violated any regulations or committed any crimes, most immigrants usually were never detained. That has changed in the past year.
Pedigo says one of those trapped was a 19-year-old from Guatemala with no criminal record. He rode his bike to his ICE check-in in Nashville and was swiftly taken into custody. Like most Tennesseans detained by ICE, he was sent to a detention center in Louisiana. From there, communication has deteriorated. “He’s told us they’re treating him horribly and not giving him his medication,” Pedigo says. “The detention officers aren’t communicating with us like they used to. They’re not treating people like human beings.”
Attorneys are also seeing what they call alarming behavior in some local courts outside Davidson County. In Sumner and Wilson counties, they say, judges have been calling ICE themselves when immigrants appear in court. “This raises serious ethical concerns,” says Divyesh R. Gopal, an attorney also at Gopal & Pedigo PC. “Judges are required to remain impartial, and initiating contact with immigration enforcement risks blurring that line. Decisions about notification or enforcement should rest with law enforcement agencies, not the judiciary.”
Nashville-based criminal defense attorney Caesar Cirigliano says the biggest change he’s seen over the past year isn’t a single new rule, but a tightening of the system. This is especially true of bonds. “Even if a judge grants bond, if there’s an immigration hold, they can’t get out anymore,” he says. “That’s a massive difference.” Where immigrant defendants facing criminal charges once bonded out, went back to work, and fought their cases “from the street,” Cirigliano says many now sit in jail for months before getting their day in court. Davidson County technically has a fast-track docket for people with immigration holds, but Cirigliano says that is largely a “fictitious idea” in practice.
“After six months, they’re like, ‘Get me out of jail — I don’t care if I get deported,’” Cirigliano says. In neighboring counties like Sumner, judges more readily hold noncitizens as flight risks, which triggers ICE. Meanwhile, Cirigliano says ICE is picking up people with DUI convictions after their cases close. “DUIs never used to lead to deportation,” he says. “Now, if they plead to it, ICE is coming.” For lawyers like Pedigo who have spent years helping people navigate the complexities of the U.S. immigration system, the pattern feels cruelly upside-down. “So many of my clients are doing exactly what the law requires,” she says. “They have no criminal record. They’re checking in. They’re waiting for their turn. And now they’re being detained and deported anyway.”
Gopal says the situation many of his immigrant clients face has become a legal catch-22. “This isn’t panic or overreaction,” he says. “It’s a structurally coercive situation.” His first advice when advising clients is to not skip ICE check-ins, even if the outcome may be unfavorable. “Failing to appear can trigger an automatic violation or even a removal order,” he explains. “As unfair as it feels, missing a check-in almost always carries more severe and predictable legal consequences than showing up.”
Gopal also urges his clients to prepare for the possibility of detention even when they’re complying with the rules. He stresses the need for case-specific legal advice every time circumstances change. And finally, he doesn’t sugarcoat the heavy emotional toll.
“This is not a system designed to reward compliance or good faith,” Gopal says. “The anxiety people feel is rational. The goal right now is often not ‘safety’ in the traditional sense, but risk management.”
