Immigrants' rights advocates gathered Wednesday morning in Nashville to protest the treatment of an ICE detainee hospitalized in Murfreesboro. Activists who attempted to contact the man say staff at Ascension Saint Thomas Rutherford turned them away. At the press conference assembled on Woodmont Boulevard — outside Ascension offices in West Nashville and blocks away from one of the nonprofit’s hospitals — speakers also raised doubts that the man had received any legal representation.
Reports from Music City MigraWatch, a volunteer group that reports ICE activity in Nashville and nearby areas, say that on March 29, the man jumped from the second story of an apartment building in Murfreesboro (believed to be where he lives) while fleeing ICE agents. He had fled from an encounter with them earlier in the morning. He sustained injuries from the fall and was brought to Ascension Saint Thomas Rutherford.
A Murfreesboro Police Department spokesperson tells the Scene that the police and the fire departments responded to an EMS call that morning, saying a man “possibly jumped” from an upper story of an apartment building, “injuring his wrist while trying to evade ICE.”
Alex Sager of MusicCity MigraWatch arrived at the man’s apartment building shortly after his arrest and followed him to the hospital. “Over the next week, ICE vehicles were at the hospital 24/7, where they parked in a gated physicians-only lot,” said Sanger at Wednesday's press conference. “And all the while, hospital staff denied knowledge of ICE being anywhere on site or within the building itself.”
Episcopal priest Judy Rodriguez said on Easter Sunday, April 5, she attempted to visit the man to offer spiritual support but was turned away. Another group of faith leaders had been turned away days prior to her visit. Rodriguez said she suspected the group was turned away because of ICE’s presence in the hospital, but added that she did not seek to “vilify” the hospital staff but rather “raise the alarm” about what occurred.
Speaking at the conference, Rodriguez noted that Ascension is a “Catholic institution” that follows Jesus’ teachings of compassion for the vulnerable. “The presence of ICE agents on hospital grounds is a threat to any patient's healing, and it is a threat to the identity and mission of Ascension Saint Thomas,” she said.
The Monday after Easter, said Rodriguez, advocates were able to contact the man’s family in Guatemala and called his mother via WhatsApp — she hadn’t been able to reach her son. They were still denied a visit.
Amanda Hernandez, co-chair of the Immigrant Rights Committee at NOAH, speaks about the treatment of a hospitalized man detained by ICE, April 15, 2026
“Patients rely on the people around them, not just for treatment, but for protection, for advocacy and for basic human dignity,” said Sarah Shoop Neumann, a nurse and member of Music City MigraWatch. “Instead, this patient was isolated. He was denied contact with family, denied access to legal counsel, cut off from the very people who could help him understand what was happening to his body and to his rights. That's not care — that's abandonment.”
Neumann, who is also known for her gun-control advocacy, said she’s had patients who were in custody before — though never ICE custody — and they never received this type of treatment. The police usually offered some degree of privacy, she said.
As KFF Health News reports, ICE should have to follow health care privacy laws, which include allowing patients to speak confidentially with doctors and attorneys — but agents have started monitoring detainees around the clock. A California judge even issued a temporary restraining order on ICE for its 37-day in-room surveillance of a hospitalized man who had never been served a warrant for his arrest. ICE stopped reporting detentions at hospitals in October, but The San Diego Union-Tribune found the number of such cases increased from 1,300 in 2024 to 1,900 in 2025.
Speakers Wednesday emphasized the chilling effect of ICE’s presence at hospitals.
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“We already just got another call yesterday with MigraWatch from a family that was fearful of going to an appointment at Saint Thomas Rutherford,” said Shoop Neumann. “They will avoid seeking help. That puts the entire community at risk.”
The unnamed man was discharged from the hospital on Monday and relocated to a CoreCivic prison in Mason, Tenn. Activists tell the Scene hospital staff told them the patient had legal counsel but never provided a name. Activists say they’re working on setting the man up with a legal team.
The press conference was briefly interrupted when a security guard asked the crowd of roughly 16 activists and a handful of journalists to disband — but the conference was ultimately able to carry on. Organizations represented at the conference included The ReMIX Way, Hijos de Inmigrantes, First Cumberland Presbyterian Church of Murfreesboro, Rutherford Reimagined and Music City MigraWatch.
The Scene reached out to ICE and Ascension Saint Thomas Rutherford for comment but did not hear back from either.
