The Memphis City Council on Tuesday voted in favor of a nonbinding resolution calling for the removal of Immigration and Customs Enforcement and the Tennessee National Guard from the city.
The resolution drew dozens of speakers who urged its adoption during a public comment period. It takes aim at the presence of hundreds of agents assigned to the Memphis Safe Task Force, a multi-agency law enforcement effort dispatched to Memphis via an executive order by President Trump last September. No member of the public spoke against the resolution.
The resolution said an Aug. 30 raid on a Memphis nightclub that resulted in the detention of more than 120 immigrants raised “concerns about due process and the impact of federal immigration enforcement on local communities, including the disruption and separation of Memphis families.”
The resolution also cited the deaths of six individuals “as a result of incidents involving Memphis Safe Task Force operations.” Four Black men were fatally shot by members of the task force over a two-month span earlier this year; two other individuals died in vehicle pursuits during task force enforcement activities. No member of the task force has been criminally charged in the deaths.
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“We’ve seen raids, we’ve seen disruption, we’ve seen scare tactics and we’ve seen killing by these parts of the task force,” Council member Michalyn Easter Thomas, a cosponsor of the resolution said. “It’s time for them to leave.”
The resolution, which carries no enforcement powers, stands in stark contrast to the praise national and state Republican leaders directed at the Memphis Safe Task Force last week. U.S. Attorney Todd Blanche credited the presence of task force members from state and federal agencies, which include the Tennessee Highway Patrol, Homeland Security, IRS and others, with bringing Memphis crime to a 25-year low.
Blanche said the task force would remain in the city “as long as it takes.”
The resolution approved Tuesday cites the Memphis Police Department reporting that crime in Memphis during the months before the task force deployment had already reached a 25-year low.
The resolution urges the city to partner with residents and community-based organizations to address “sustainable public safety strategies that reflect community priorities and needs,” echoing longstanding criticisms that the task force is focused on punitive policing rather than addressing root causes of crime, such as lack of economic opportunity.
The resolution was enacted with a 9-0 vote with one council member, Ford Canale, abstaining.
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