Dean Rebuked For Villegas Comments; Motion to End 287(g) Filed

Posted by Jonathan Meador
Aug 22, 2011 at 3:30 PM

Although Nashville is approximately 1,200 miles from the Mexican border, you'd be forgiven for thinking it was within stray-bullet-striking distance of Juarez, given the bevy of local immigration-related goings-on.

Firstly, lawyers from the Southern Poverty Law Center and the National Immigration Project of the National Lawyers Guild are backing local immigration attorney Elliott Ozment in filing a motion to "end the 287(g) immigration agreement between Nashville and federal authorities," according to a press release issued today.

Per the language of the 287(g) agreement, agents from Immigration and Customs Enforcement are supposed to work with the city's "primary law enforcement agency," which is defined under Nashville's Metro charter as the Metropolitan Nashville Police Department — except for the fact that MNPD isn't the fed's designated 287(g) point man: The Davidson County Sheriff's Office is. D'oh!

The Scene has already chronicled how well the results of that supra-legal civil rights-trampling agreement are working out. (Hint: Not so much.)

According to NIPNLG attorney Trina Realmuto:


"Nashville’s 287(g) agreement conflicts with decades-old precedent from the Tennessee Supreme Court, in which the court rejected a similar attempt by the Davidson County Sheriff’s Office to usurp the enforcement functions belonging to the Nashville Police Department. Through this lawsuit, we are asking the district court to enforce both state and federal law by striking down the 287(g) agreement."


Secondly, Mayor Karl Dean is facing criticism from a prominent supporter over comments he made regarding the damages trial for Juana Villegas, the Mexican immigrant who went into labor while shackled under DCSO's authority following a minor traffic offense in July 2008.

In an email intended for Dean's eyes only, Bass, Berry & Sims attorney and Conexion Americas board president David Esquivel lambasted the mayor because "[he] has a history of standing up for the immigrant community.

"I e-mailed him because I think his comments on the Villegas case are out of step with his past words and actions," Esquivel wrote in an email to the Scene. "And I think he is a person of good conscience who wants to do the right thing."

Esquivel's letter is as follows:


Mayor Dean,

Since this incident first happened, I have followed it with interest. So far as I can tell, these have been your only publicly reported comments on the matter:

“We are able to identify and report individuals who are here illegally and have been charged with a criminal offense, while at the same time remaining a friendly and open city to our new legal residents,â€