ICE Crackdown Soars: Tennessee Among Top States for Jail-Based Arrests

Recent data show a dramatic surge in immigration enforcement in Tennessee: the state has become one of the nation’s hotspots for arrests by the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), especially arrests initiated inside local jails rather than on the streets.

According to a 2025 report from the Prison Policy Initiative (PPI), Tennessee now ranks second in the country — right behind Texas — in the number of people ICE picks up from county jails. This shift indicates a growing strategy: local law-enforcement officials arrest individuals — often for minor offenses — then hold them until ICE arrives to detain them.

The trend has accelerated sharply in 2025. According to public-record data released by the Deportation Data Project at the University of California, Berkeley, statewide ICE detainer requests rose by about 86.5% compared with 2024. In practical terms, in many counties — including Knox County — the number of detainees held for ICE pickup jumped dramatically: what used to be a handful has snowballed into dozens or more per month.

Local law-enforcement cooperation has also increased: by December 2025, 54 law-enforcement agencies across Tennessee had signed formal agreements under the federal 287(g) program — a dramatic rise from just eight agencies at the start of the year. These agreements empower local police and sheriffs to identify immigrants for federal immigration enforcement, effectively blurring the line between local criminal policing and federal deportation efforts.

ICE officials claim that a large share of those detained have criminal convictions or pending criminal cases. Recent data indicates roughly 80% of ICE arrestees in Tennessee this year fit this description. Yet critics — including immigrant-rights advocates and civil-liberties groups — argue that the reliance on jail-based pickups for even minor offenses represents overreach. They warn that such practices could lead to racial profiling, violations of due process, and widespread fear among immigrant communities.

In metropolitan areas like Nashville, coordinated enforcement operations have reportedly included hundreds of traffic stops — some resulting in arrests and handovers to ICE. Some local officials defend the crackdown as necessary to remove dangerous individuals and uphold immigration law. Meanwhile, the human-impact continues: many detained are low-level offenders or immigrants with no serious criminal history, raising questions about fairness, community trust, and long-term implications for social cohesion.

As ICE ramps up its operations in Tennessee, the state’s evolving enforcement landscape spotlights broader national debates about immigration policy, local policing, and civil rights. Whether this surge in arrests will yield long-term benefits — or instead produce social disruption and legal challenges — remains to be seen.

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