Saturday, May 17, 2025

Reflections on the Recent ICE Raids in Nashvillle

by Rod Williams, May 16, 2025- ICE recently removed what at first appears to be some really bad people from our community. 

Earlier this week Immigration and Customs Enforcement in a coordinated effort with the Tennessee Highway Patrol conducted nearly 600 traffic stops in the Nolensville Road area. The result of these stops was that 196 people were arrested. Of those arrested, DHS reports 95 had prior criminal convictions or pending criminal charges, and 31 were previously removed individuals who reentered the U.S. illegally. Some of these people were allegedly rapist and people charged with armed robbery and some were drug dealers. 

The first thing I question when learning of this is, is this true? Were there that many criminals and formerly deported among those stopped? Donald Trump lies constantly. Any sit-down conversation with a journalist or oval office news conference will contain numerous falsehoods uttered by Donald Trump. If one were writing a book titled, The One Thousand Lies of Donald Trump, they would not run out of material. His lies set the tone for those below him. 

The biggest lie of course is that the 2020 election was stolen. People who do not accept that lie are not welcome in the Trump administration and if already in responsible positions in the government are likely to be fired for not accepting the lie. When accepting a lie is a basic requirement to be in good standing with the administration, then lying becomes the currency of the realm. When one understands the desired narrative, the "facts" can be created to support the narrative. 

By claiming so many of the arrested were bad people this advances the Trump narrative that says undocumented immigrants are mostly bad people. I hate that I have reached a point that I no longer can accept as true something as basic as a statement telling me x number of those arrested were criminals, but that is where I am. Unless I have reason to believe something said by a Trump official, my default position is to doubt it. 

Mayor Freddie O'Connell has asked for a list of those arrested and the charges against them. He is right to do so. Until such a list is released, there is no reason to believe that the "facts" DHS is providing are real.

If one accepts what DHS tells us about the 600 traffic stops and if 196 warranted arrests, that is 32%. That is a lot of bad people. Of course, one must ask why did they warrant arrest? We just don't know. It may be that they were arrested for driving without a license. Since illegal immigrants cannot get a license, one would assume that the undocumented aliens stopped did not have a driver's license. Normally, driving without a license result in a ticket and not arrest, but I am not going to be shocked if most of the 196 who were arrested were not arrested for this misdemeanor offense. If so, they are not really bad people. I would like to know why they were arrested before I draw any conclusions about them.

If 95 of 600 are indeed criminals (or former criminals), that is 15%. That looks to be a high number. However, when you put it into perspective, it is really not that high. It is hard to know how many criminals are among us, but a random stop of Americans would probably show more than 15% to have a criminal record. According to the Brennen Center for Justice nearly one-third of the adult working age population has a criminal record and nearly half of black males and almost 40 percent of white males are arrested by the age 23. So, if 15% of those stopped have a rap sheet, that is actually a low percentage. This tells us that a way to lower the crime rate is to have more illegal immigration.

Of the 600 stopped, 5% had illegally entered the United States previously, been deported and reentered. It is hard to generate sympathy for these people, and I think they should be prosecuted and deported. However, 5% is not an alarming number. 

Often defenders of illegal immigration tell us that illegal aliens are heroic desperate people fleeing violence and poverty looking for a better life in America. Trump and his sycophants tell us that immigrants are rapist and murderers and really bad people, even saying they are eating our cats and dogs. This raid shows us they are just people. 

When the raid occurred, Mayor Freddie O'Connell said, “Our community’s strength lies in its diversity and the invaluable contributions of those who have chosen to make Nashville their home." Is that true? I think diversity can be oversold. There is something also to be said for homogeneity and compatibility in a society. I support toleration and acceptance, but I am not so sure that diversity for diversities sake is a strength. 

While I think many oversale diversity, it does make a community more interesting. It certainly leads to more great places to eat. When there is any influx of people from other lands, it improves the culinary landscape. It creates a more cosmopolitan atmosphere. As far as the "invaluable contribution," I think that may be oversold also. However, they do contribute to our economic well-being. Immigrants create a better life for the rest of us. They do the jobs we don't want to do. Look at any lawncare crew and it is made up mostly of Hispanics. I do my own lawncare, but I am the exception in my neighborhood. If we deport large numbers of undocumented aliens, middle class Americans will have to cut their own grass.

In landscaping, lawncare, construction, caregiving, cleaning hotel rooms, dishwashing, and many other fields, the people doing the work are immigrants and many of them are illegal immigrants. We need these people. When the traffic stops happened earlier this week, fear of arrest spread throughout the immigrant community and several of the big honkytonks on Lower Broad had to close their kitchens. Many of their employees simply did not show up for work. If mass deportation occurs or most self deport, we will miss them when they are gone. While I think some defenders of immigration, especially illegal immigration, may oversale the benefits of diversity and romanticize immigrants, I think it is fair to say we would be worse off if we lost the benefits of cheap immigrant labor. 

There is another reason we need immigrants. America, like many other wealthy advanced countries, has a declining birthrate. If one looks at Social Security as an example, it is essentially a transfer payment. People paying in today are the ones paying the benefits of those receiving Social Security today. We need more people, not only for Social Security but a declining population results in declining productivity. Unless Americans start having larger families we need immigrants. 

One thing that should be kept in mind in looking at the Nashville ICE traffic stops and other ICE raids, is that the people arrested under the ICE traffic stops were not arrested under authority of the Alien Enemies Act of 1798. The application of that Act to remove illegal aliens is questionable. One can be consistent and oppose deportations under the Alien Enemies Act of 1798 and still favor immigration enforcement. Not all immigration enforcement is equally offensive. Deportation can be done and be done legally. While I do not think we need massive deportation, I am more concerned about the how of deportation than the deportation itself. While deportation by itself may not be in America's self-interest, it is the denial of due process and the trampling of the constitution that concerns me most.

When the traffic stops occurred resulting in arrest and hauling away in busses of the arrested, TV news reports showed crying mothers and children outside the bus reaching out to touch the window glass where their loved one was on the other side. It is heartbreaking and makes for good TV.  

The family separation angle of the story gets a lot of attention. One can sympathize with families who are separated from their loved ones but that should not dictate public policy. Family separation is a fact of life. When they came to America and furthermore when they committed crime, if they committed a crime, they should have known family separation was a possible outcome of their actions. It is sad when families are torn apart. We should have compassion. Avoiding family separation should be a factor in immigration policy. However, if should not be the sole determining factor. Family separation occurs when a spouse or parent or child is sent to prison. Family separation occurs when a member of the US armed forces is deployed. Family separation occurs when a divorce occurs, and a parent loses custody or is denied visitation. It is a tragedy and worthy of our sympathies but should not dictate policy. 

One aspect of the traffic-stop ICE operation earlier this week I have not heard addressed and to which I do not have an answer is, were the stops legal? I know that a police officer is not supposed to pull you over without probable cause. Often people who were obviously drunk or guilty of other crimes, have beat the charges against them because they were stopped without probably cause.  I know that law enforcement can sit up screening check points where every driver of every vehicle passing a certain point is screened for sobriety or driver's license or some other reason. That was not how these stops were conducted. Random vehicles were pulled over.  

I know the attitude of a lot of people when it comes to searches of their home or surveillance or being required to show identification is, "I have nothing to hide, I don't care." My view is we should always be vigilant about government violation of our rights. The Fourth Amendment says, "The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized." Maybe I am missing something but from what I learn from news reports of the ICE stops, people were stopped without probable cause. If one has more insight on the legality of the stops, I welcome hearing it.


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Friday, May 16, 2025

 


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Thursday, May 15, 2025

ICE deports Some Really Bad People


The Daily Wire, May 13, 2025- The federal deportation raids in Tennessee that have garnered outrage from local Democrats resulted in the capture of rapists, drug dealers, and gang members, according to a Department of Homeland Security dossier obtained by The Daily Wire.

Nashville’s Democrat mayor Freddie O’Connell has said he was very “frustrated” to see immigration enforcement in the city, stating, “We did not request this approach to safety, we do not support it.” In response, he signed an executive order mandating that communications from Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) be directed to his office immediately.

His outrage comes with little public information known about the scale about the raid, but The Daily Wire has learned that nearly 200 illegal aliens were captured during the weeklong raids, including rapists, drug dealers, and gang members.

The raids, which ICE carried out in conjunction with local and federal law enforcement partners, began on May 3 and resulted in the arrest of 196 illegal aliens. Of those arrested, 95 had prior criminal convictions or pending criminal charges, while another 31 had reentered the country after being previously removed from the United States, a felony offense, the federal law enforcement agency told The Daily Wire. (Read more)

DHS calls out Nashville mayor after 196 arrests made during ICE operation .

WSM. May 13,2025- .... Below is a list of five individuals and their charges, DHS shared, of the nearly 200 reported arrests:

Jassim Jafaf Al-Raash, a 60-year-old undocumented immigrant from Iraq. Al-Raash’s criminal history includes convictions for rape to which he was sentenced to 10 years imprisonment, and convictions for larceny and false imprisonment to which he was sentenced to 11 months imprisonment. He also has an arrest for failure to register as a sex offender. Al-Raash has a final order of removal dated September 1, 2021.

Franklin Oswaldo Velasquez, a 33-year-old undocumented immigrant from El Salvador, is affiliated with the MS-13 gang. He is the subject of an active Red Notice in El Salvador for aggravated murder. Velasquez’s criminal history includes a conviction for possession of methamphetamines, possession of drug paraphernalia, failure to appear, and criminal impersonation.

Inmar Antonio Penado-Membreno, a 34-year-old undocumented immigrant from El Salvador. Penado-Membreno’s criminal history includes a conviction for possession with intent to manufacture/deliver/sell cocaine, to which he was sentenced to 8 years imprisonment. He was also convicted of aggravated assault, for which he was sentenced to 4 years in prison.

Richard St. Baptiste, a 36-year-old undocumented immigrant from Haiti. His criminal history includes convictions for possession of methamphetamine with intent to distribute, to which he was sentenced to 8 years of probation, and a conviction for marijuana possession, to which he was sentenced to 30 days in prison.

Carlos Reinaldo Alvarado-Rodriguez, a 39-year-old undocumented immigrant from Guatemala. Alvarado’s criminal history includes a conviction for aggravated assault, for which he was sentenced to four years in prison.

“DHS is a law enforcement agency, and it will continue to enforce the law and work with all state and local partners so that Americans do not continue to be victimized by criminal aliens,” the department said.

In early May, the Community Foundation of Middle Tennessee (CFMT) partnered with the Metro Nashville Government to launch a fund to support immigrants in the city following a weekend full of ICE detainments.

“Our community’s strength lies in its diversity and the invaluable contributions of those who have chosen to make Nashville their home. Our immigrant neighbors power industries, enrich the city’s culture, and contribute to neighborhoods across the region. Yet, many face sudden and destabilizing challenges, often with little warning or support,” Nashville Mayor Freddie O’Connell’s office shared. (Read it all)


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Manufacturing is thriving in the South. Here’s why neither party can admit it.

Both parties are afraid to confront the real story behind manufacturing losses.

By Gary Winslett, The Washington Post, May 14, 2025 - There’s a popular story that politicians in both parties like to tell us: The Rust Belt was a thriving region until China, Mexico and their American business allies tore their manufacturing jobs away with lopsided trade deals. Whether through President Donald Trump’s tariffs or some Democratic alternative, it’s now up to Washington to get them back.

It’s a politically convenient tale for courting voters in key swing states, pining for the way things once were. The problem is that it’s not true — and it is leading to some terrible policy decisions.

A big missing part of the story: Interstate competition. The Rust Belt’s manufacturing decline isn’t primarily about jobs going to Mexico. It’s about jobs going to Alabama, South Carolina, Georgia and Tennessee. ....

... In 1970, the Rust Belt was responsible for nearly half of all manufacturing exports while the South produced less than a quarter. Today, the roles are reversed, it is the Rust Belt that hosts less than one-fourth of all manufactured exports and the South that exports twice what the Rust Belt does.

This migration didn’t happen by accident. It was driven by specific policy choices. States such as Tennessee, Alabama, South Carolina and Texas have aggressively courted manufacturers by promising business-friendly policy environments. ... The South offers cheaper electricity, ... Southern states have built so much housing that they kept costs from becoming unaffordable. ... low state-level taxes. ... Immigration helps a lot, as well. More immigrants live in the South than any other region of the country. ... Right-to-work laws, cheap energy, affordable housing, low-cost land, fast permitting, low taxes, immigration. That’s a powerful combination, ... (Read it all)

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Is ICE targeting Nashville schools? Here's what to know


Key Points:

  • Nearly 200 people have been arrested in a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement operation in Nashville.
  • Rumors of ICE agents targeting schools and even neighborhood school bus stops have swirled.
  • A spokesperson for Metro Nashville Public Schools said no ICE activity has been verified at schools.
by Rachel Wegner, The Tennessean, May 14, 2025- A wave of arrests by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement in Nashville has left the community shaken and uncertain.

Rumors have cropped up around the whereabouts of ICE officials, who teamed up with the Tennessee Highway Patrol for a joint operation. Officials said the operation led to hundreds of traffic stops and nearly 200 arrests as of May 13. ICE spokesperson Lindsay Williams said the operation ran from May 5-10.

As the operation unfolded, rumors about ICE showing up at schools and even school bus stops have circulated. Here's what to know about what's happening, what's legal and what students and leaders are saying. (read more)

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Nashville Mayor issues Protocol amid ICE Communication Failure

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'Everyone split’: Fear of ICE presence on Broadway leads to restaurant closures

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Ogles vs. O'Connell: Battle over Nashville's role in federal immigration enforcement

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Wednesday, May 14, 2025

 


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Tuesday, May 13, 2025

Trump Never Wanted to Drain the Swamp, He Wanted to Rule It

By Jeffrey Blehar, National Review, May 13, 2025 - As you may know, the president of the United States has announced that he is getting a very special gift from a very strange source: The oil-rich Gulf micro-state of Qatar reportedly is looking to donate a half-billion-dollar Boeing 747-8 to Donald Trump, for use as a replacement for Air Force One. (Trump considers the current AF1 to be “too old” and thus beneath his dignity, although it is in no way unsafe.)

Are you worried about the idea of the president flying around in a plane donated to America by a nation known both for its massive Washington “influence operation” and its friendliness with major terrorist groups in the Middle East? Then fear not, 

for this gift is only “temporary” and shall remain unsullied by future, less worthy presidents: Trump, according to reports, will retire it from federal service and transfer ownership to himself, under the nominal institutional control of his presidential library. “Only a stupid person” would refuse such a gift, he says. So what’s your problem, huh? You’re not stupid, are you?

No, I am not, which is why I refuse to be condescended to by either Trump or his defenders. Your lyin’ eyes are not deceiving you: This is exactly what it looks like, it is utterly appalling, and if you tolerate it or make lazily partisan excuses to justify it, then you will deserve what inevitably comes next.

... This is a transparent attempt at an international bribe — a personal gift to the president to curry future favor — so much so that I don’t see the point in pretending it to be anything but one. Even if you personally believe Trump to be as incorruptible as Robespierre — even if you are that willfully ignorant of his entire history of business dealings — the terrible optics and moral hazards of a president accepting his own personal Air Force One from a nation of shady oil billionaires are beyond obvious.

... Just this April, Trump’s family struck a deal with the Qataris to build a golf course and resort there.


Now Qatar’s government is poised to gift him a new airplane.

Most outrageous of all, really, is how this “gift” is entirely in keeping with how Qatar purchases access and favors within the corridors of Washington power, differing only in scale. The lavish amount of money this postage-stamp petrostate spends at every level of the U.S. lobbying and policymaking establishment is an open secret in the nation’s capital. And the Qataris have to be generous, for this is a nation otherwise primarily known for sheltering Hamas leadership, financially supporting the Houthi rebels in Yemen, and tolerating the deaths of Asian laborers by the truckload during rushed preparations for the 2022 World Cup.

Qatar is happy to spend its money wherever it thinks it can curry favor, and Trump’s administration in particular is stocked with people who until recently made millions working as registered foreign agents of the nation, including Attorney General Pam Bondi.

... I remember Donald Trump’s 2016 promise to “drain the swamp” of corruption. I remember the Republican outrage over Joe and Hunter Biden’s corrupt dealings with Ukrainian business interests. ... I understand it now to have all been a joke; a means to an end; a convenient weapon at hand to bash the enemy with. Donald Trump never wanted to drain the swamp. He wanted to become its lord. (Read it all)


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Harwood Salons Presents a Discussion of Jobs, Freedom and the Right to Work

 

Join us in Nashville on Wednesday, May 21, at 6 p.m. CT for an event with Justin Owen, President & CEO of the Beacon Center of Tennessee, and Mike Reitz, Executive Vice President of the Mackinac Center.


Tennessee is the place to be. It’s a magnet for jobs and opportunity, especially compared to states like California and Illinois. One difference? We protect worker freedom, while those states have been captured by self-interested and powerful unions. Thank goodness we never have to worry about that. Or do we…?


Recent polling from the Beacon Center shows a concerning trend of growing support for unions among Tennessee voters. And with a booming automotive industry, more and more workplaces are unionizing across the state. As a leading national advocate for protecting workers’ freedom, the Mackinac Center’s Mike Reitz will share a cautionary tale about how we must protect Tennessee from going the way of California and Illinois. The Beacon Center’s Justin Owen will join him for the discussion, highlighting these recent trends and what we can do to cement our status as the best place in America to live, work, and raise a family. 


Registration is required to attend. Register now!

REGISTER HERE


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Monday, May 12, 2025

Don’t Call This Conservatism

 Much of American ‘conservatism’ today doesn’t deserve the label.

Jonah Goldberg
By Jonah Goldberg, The Dispatch, May 12, 2025 - Is the “New Right” conservative? 

If you spend any time following the most vocal defenders of Donald Trump or various populist causes generally, some version of this question may have occurred to you. If you find yourself listening to defenders of a supposedly extreme right-wing Republican president’s signature policies, and then wondering aloud, “Wait, I thought conservatives were in favor of free markets?” you have an idea of what I am getting at. If you’re perplexed by the way many on the right celebrate and lionize a rogue’s gallery of libertines, scapegraces, sybarites, caitiffs, roues, abusers, and cads, you might wonder why you didn’t get the memo explaining that the right no longer cares about “moral rearmament,” or “family values.”

In short, if you’re a lifelong conservative, you might be struggling with the question of whether “the right” is where you belong. If being a principled defender of the constitutional order, limited government, free markets, traditional values, and an America-led world still makes you a conservative, are you still on “the right” when the loudest voices on the right reject most or all of those positions?  

... what I broadly mean by right-wing is a bundle of different ideologies and attitudes that see themselves in opposition to the left. I would go a step further and argue that the more radical segments of the right are more like mirror images of the radical left. Just as identitarian, statism, illiberalism, and anti-Americanism define or describe some elements of the radical left, they also describe some factions on the radical right. 

.... If you wanted to destroy traditional conservatism—either ideological fusionism or temperamental—you could not design a better instrument than Trump.

... Populist and nationalist economics have always been conducive to statism. There is nothing inconsistent between Steve Bannon’s “Leninism” and his desire for a new New Deal—the goal of American progressives since the first one. The whole point of populism is special pleading for a special group and statist intervention on their behalf. Trump has turned the GOP into a statist party, committed to industrial policy and protectionism. Nationalism invariably puts the state at the center of all political enterprises because the state is the instrument of national will. Moreover, nationalism is bound up in the romantic notion of a Leader who is the arbiter of that national will. On trade alone, in just a few years, Trump has moved the party closer to Dick Gephardt, Bernie Sanders, and William Jennings Bryan (though in fairness to the Great Commoner, Bryan was far more of a coherent free trader than Trump), than Ronald Reagan and Margaret Thatcher.   

.... If there is any idea more central to American conservatism than adherence to the rule of law and fidelity to the Constitution, I struggle to think of what it might be. And the Trump administration, on a near-daily basis, signals its contempt for both. (read it all)

Rod's Comment: This is a lengthy article. For anyone interested in ideas, political philosophy, and the history of American Conservatism it is well worth reading. 

Jonah Goldberg poses the question, is the “New Right” actually conservative? “If being a principled defender of the constitutional order, limited government, free markets, traditional values, and an America-led world still makes you a conservative,” Jonah asks, “are you still on ‘the right’ when the loudest voices on the right reject most or all of those positions?”

Goldberg examines the growing divide between traditional conservatism and today’s vocal right-wing populism. 

This extensive analysis delves into:

  • The three distinct types of conservatism and how they differ
  • Why labels matter—but can also become traps
  • How the “Populist Front” resembles historical popular fronts of the past
  • The tension between traditional conservative values and today’s right-wing populism
  • What truly separates conservatism from mere “right-wingery”

At its core, this is a deeply philosophical examination of what it means to be conservative in an age where such principles seem increasingly at odds with the loudest voices claiming to represent the right.



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