NASHVILLE — 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&#8217;s Democrat mayor Freddie O&#8217;Connell has <a href="https://fox17.com/news/local/nashville-mayor-issues-new-protocol-for-metro-employees-amid-ice-communication-fallout">said</a> he was very &#8220;frustrated&#8221; to see immigration enforcement in the city, stating, &#8220;We did not request this approach to safety, we do not support it.&#8221; 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.
“This operation resulted in getting gang members, sex offenders, and other violent criminals off Nashville’s streets,&#8221; Tricia McLaughlin, the Department of Homeland Security Assistant Secretary for Public Affairs, told The Daily Wire. &#8220;President Trump and Secretary Noem will continue to stand with victims and the brave ICE agents who are on the frontlines making America safe again.&#8221;
Here are some of the criminal illegal aliens captured in Nashville:
Jassim Jafaf Al-Raash, a 60-year-old convicted rapist and citizen of Iraq. Al-Raash failed to register as a sex offender following his rape convictions, for which he was sentenced to 10 years in prison. The Iraqi national was also convicted of false imprisonment and larceny.
<div class="image"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class=" wp-image-919541 aligncenter" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/05/Screen-Shot-2025-05-13-at-9.47.09-AM-221x300.png" alt="" width="302" height="410" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/05/Screen-Shot-2025-05-13-at-9.47.09-AM-221x300.png 221w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/05/Screen-Shot-2025-05-13-at-9.47.09-AM-425x576.png 425w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/05/Screen-Shot-2025-05-13-at-9.47.09-AM.png 648w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 302px) 100vw, 302px" /></div>
ICE also captured Franklin Oswaldo Velasquez-Reyes, a 33-year-old Salvadoran who is affiliated with MS-13, a violent gang that was recently named a foreign terrorist organization by the Trump State Department. El Salvador suspects Velasquez-Reyes of committing aggravated murder and issued a notice requesting foreign governments to locate and arrest Velasquez-Reyes. The Salvadoran national has several criminal convictions, including possession of methamphetamines, possession of drug paraphernalia, failure to appear, and criminal impersonation.
<div class="image"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class=" wp-image-919543 aligncenter" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/05/Screen-Shot-2025-05-13-at-9.48.45-AM-300x284.png" alt="" width="344" height="326" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/05/Screen-Shot-2025-05-13-at-9.48.45-AM-300x284.png 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/05/Screen-Shot-2025-05-13-at-9.48.45-AM-609x576.png 609w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/05/Screen-Shot-2025-05-13-at-9.48.45-AM.png 634w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 344px) 100vw, 344px" /></div>
Haitian national Richard St. Baptiste, who was sentenced to eight years in prison for possession of methamphetamine with the intent to distribute. St. Baptiste was also sentenced to 30 days in prison for marijuana possession.
<div class="image"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="size-medium wp-image-919547 aligncenter" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/05/Screen-Shot-2025-05-13-at-9.51.19-AM-293x300.png" alt="" width="293" height="300" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/05/Screen-Shot-2025-05-13-at-9.51.19-AM-293x300.png 293w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/05/Screen-Shot-2025-05-13-at-9.51.19-AM-563x576.png 563w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/05/Screen-Shot-2025-05-13-at-9.51.19-AM.png 702w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 293px) 100vw, 293px" /></div>
Inmar Antonio Penado-Membreno, a 34-year-old Salvadoran, was sentenced to eight years in prison for possession with intent to manufacture, deliver, and sell cocaine and four years for aggravated assault.
<div class="image"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="size-medium wp-image-919549 aligncenter" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/05/Screen-Shot-2025-05-13-at-9.52.08-AM-300x280.png" alt="" width="300" height="280" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/05/Screen-Shot-2025-05-13-at-9.52.08-AM-300x280.png 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/05/Screen-Shot-2025-05-13-at-9.52.08-AM-616x576.png 616w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/05/Screen-Shot-2025-05-13-at-9.52.08-AM.png 676w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px" /></div>
Carlos Reinaldo Alvarado-Rodriguez, a 39-year-old citizen of Guatemala with a conviction for aggravated assault.
<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="size-medium wp-image-919551 aligncenter" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/05/Screen-Shot-2025-05-13-at-9.54.57-AM-260x300.png" alt="" width="260" height="300" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/05/Screen-Shot-2025-05-13-at-9.54.57-AM-260x300.png 260w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/05/Screen-Shot-2025-05-13-at-9.54.57-AM-499x576.png 499w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/05/Screen-Shot-2025-05-13-at-9.54.57-AM.png 548w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 260px) 100vw, 260px" />The five criminal illegal aliens were joined by a 39-year-old Mexican national who had been deported from the United States six different times and was convicted of felony domestic assault and sex with a minor; a 37-year-old Venezuelan affiliated with Tren de Aragua; a 28-year-old Mexican national convicted of reckless aggravated assault; and another Mexican national who was convicted of drug possession.
“You would think all public officials would unite around DHS bringing violent criminal illegal aliens to justice and removing them from American communities,&#8221; McLaughlin charged. &#8220;However, pro-open borders politicians — like Mayor O’Connell — would rather protect illegal aliens than American citizens.” 
O&#8217;Connell, Nashville&#8217;s mayor, not only spoke out against the raids, but also put local resources towards helping the illegal immigrant community. He announced the creation of the “belonging fund” to offer monetary support for illegal aliens. The fund will allocate money to non-profit organizations that provide childcare, transportation, and food to illegal aliens, though the money will not be used to provide them with legal assistance.
ICE Acting Director Todd Lyons told The Daily Wire that O’Connell should be thankful for the federal agency’s operations in Nashville.
“Instead of vilifying the brave men and women who ensure his constituents stay safe from criminal alien murderers, drug dealers and rapists, the mayor should be saying thank you to ICE and its partners for taking these public safety threats out of his neighborhoods.”
RJ Hauman, the president of National Immigration Center Enforcement and visiting fellow at the Heritage Foundation, similarly slammed Nashville’s Democrat mayor.
“Sanctuary city mayors keep trying to outdo each other, and Americans are fed up,&#8221; Hauman said. “ICE is stepping up, nabbing serious criminals like child rapists and Tren de Aragua gang members. The American people are behind ICE’s work to kick these threats out and keep our communities safe. Now it’s time for Congress to give them more resources.”
Despite O’Connell’s response to the ICE raids, Nashville’s Legal Director Wally Dietz admitted that the city has no authority to obstruct the operations.
“We are powerless, we have absolutely no authority to instruct ICE not to carry out their enforcement actions,” Dietz explained. “We have no authority to tell THP they cannot cooperate with ICE,” he added, referring to the Tennessee Highway Patrol.
Tennessee Senator Marsha Blackburn (R) praised the raids, saying. “No one wants these criminals in their community” and that it was &#8220;a good thing that ICE is rounding them up and deporting them.”

ICE arrest

EXCLUSIVE: Dems Rage Over Nashville ICE Raids That Targeted Rapists And Gang Members

Border

Illegal Immigration

Immigration

mass immigration

Nashville

Federal authorities carried out a raid on a massive fentanyl peddling ring in New Mexico that was tied to the Sinaloa Cartel, resulting in the arrest of 16 individuals and the largest fentanyl seizure in American history, the Department of Justice (DOJ) announced Tuesday.
The raid was carried out by the Drug Enforcement Administration and other law enforcement partners and resulted in the seizure of 11.5 kilograms of concentrated fentanyl powder, 49 firearms, millions of dollars in cash, luxury vehicles, meth, heroin, cocaine, and nearly “three million pills … laced with fentanyl, labeled as oxycodone,” Attorney General Pam Bondi noted. The shocking amount of fentanyl is enough to kill millions of Americans, with just 2 milligrams being a <a href="https://www.dea.gov/resources/facts-about-fentanyl">lethal dose</a> for adults.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-media-max-width="560">
.<a href="https://twitter.com/AGPamBondi?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@AGPamBondi</a> announces the takedown of a massive drug and weapons trafficking organization in New Mexico, operated by the Sinaloa cartel — resulting in the largest fentanyl seizure in our nation&#8217;s history and the arrests of six high-level cartel members illegally in the U.S. <a href="https://t.co/6qdSd0bsCu">pic.twitter.com/6qdSd0bsCu</a>
— Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) <a href="https://twitter.com/RapidResponse47/status/1919811733004140982?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 6, 2025</a></blockquote>
Sixteen people were arrested in the operation, including the leader of the drug smuggling ring, an illegal alien with ties to the Sinaloa Cartel, which was designated as a foreign terror organization earlier this year. Six of those arrested in the operation were in the country illegally, Bondi noted.
<div id="attachment_916595" style="width: 582px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><a href="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/05/DOJ-Arrests-scaled.jpg"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-916595" class=" wp-image-916595" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/05/DOJ-Arrests-225x300.jpg" alt="" width="572" height="763" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/05/DOJ-Arrests-225x300.jpg 225w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/05/DOJ-Arrests-432x576.jpg 432w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/05/DOJ-Arrests-768x1024.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/05/DOJ-Arrests-1152x1536.jpg 1152w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/05/DOJ-Arrests-1536x2048.jpg 1536w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/05/DOJ-Arrests-scaled.jpg 1920w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 572px) 100vw, 572px" /></a>The Daily Wire</div>
Daily Wire White House Correspondent Mary Margaret Olohan asked Bondi if the DOJ has had success working with Mexican officials to extradite cartel members involved in the smuggling operation.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-media-max-width="560">
As <a href="https://twitter.com/AGPamBondi?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@AGPamBondi</a> announces the largest fentanyl seizure in U.S. history, <a href="https://twitter.com/MaryMargOlohan?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@MaryMargOlohan</a> asks whether the Mexican government has aided in extraditing cartel members:
BONDI: “Mexico has been cooperating, we extradited 29 here to our country to face charges … President Trump is… <a href="https://t.co/NuDGO3Gwog">pic.twitter.com/NuDGO3Gwog</a>
— Daily Wire (@realDailyWire) <a href="https://twitter.com/realDailyWire/status/1919832458742423976?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 6, 2025</a></blockquote>
“We will be hopefully working with them on one soon,” Bondi said in response to Olohan’s question. “But yes, Mexico has been cooperating in the past. I think we extradited 29 here to our country to face charges,” adding that those brought in to face American justice are “some of the top cartel members in our nation’s history.”
Bondi also highlighted the scale of the fentanyl crisis facing America, noting that “75,000 Americans are dying each year because of fentanyl” before adding that the DOJ “will not stop until this poison is off of our streets and out of our country.”
“More seizures are coming, more arrests are coming,” Bondi promised. “I guarantee you that.” The Attorney General noted that the six illegal aliens, including Heriberto Salazar Amaya, the leader with ties to the Sinaloa Cartel, will face American justice instead of being deported back to their countries of origin.

AG Pam Bondi

Feds Make Largest Fentanyl Bust In History, Arrest Illegal Alien With Ties To Deadly Cartel

cartel

Crime

Fentanyl

Pam Bondi

Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) caught numerous criminal illegal aliens in their Sunday raids, a rogue&#8217;s gallery that includes cartel members, a drug and weapons trafficker, and a man charged with possession of child pornography.
The raids resulted in 613 criminal arrests, eight repatriations, 67 arrests of members of the violent Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua, and 12 other gang arrests, a senior official in the Trump administration revealed to The Daily Wire.
Agents also lodged 853 detainer requests while 6,872 Homeland Security Investigation agents and Enforcement and Removal Operations agents were working to enforce federal immigration law. The raids came after President Donald Trump directed the Department of Homeland Security and Border Czar Tom Homan to launch the largest mass deportation operation in American history, with an initial focus on violent criminals.
Here&#8217;s who they captured.
ICE Omaha. Immigration enforcement agents in Oklahoma captured an unnamed member of Tren de Aragua who had previously spent seven years in a Venezuelan prison for robbery, resisting arrest, possession of a firearm, and unlawfully discharging a firearm.
<div class="image"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class=" wp-image-867469 aligncenter" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/01/ICE-Omaha-225x300.png" alt="" width="257" height="343" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/01/ICE-Omaha-225x300.png 225w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/01/ICE-Omaha.png 308w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 257px) 100vw, 257px" /></div>
ICE Houston. Agents captured an illegal alien from El Salvador who is a member of the MS-13 cartel. The man has an extensive criminal background in his home country, where he was found to have engaged in acts of terrorism, aggravated armed robbery, and involvement in illegal groups. They also caught a Mexican national arrested for two counts of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon and possession of a controlled substance.
<div class="image"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class=" wp-image-867497 aligncenter" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/01/ICE-Houston-300x272.png" alt="" width="398" height="361" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/01/ICE-Houston-300x272.png 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/01/ICE-Houston.png 330w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 398px) 100vw, 398px" /></div>
<div class="image"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class=" wp-image-867499 aligncenter" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/01/ICE-Houston-2.png" alt="" width="384" height="384" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/01/ICE-Houston-2.png 295w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/01/ICE-Houston-2-150x150.png 150w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 384px) 100vw, 384px" /></div>
ICE St. Paul. Immigration enforcement agents in Minnesota caught Mexican national Octavio Juarez-Bonilla, who was convicted of possessing pornographic material of a minor.
<div class="image"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class=" wp-image-867493 aligncenter" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/01/ICE-St.-Paul-224x300.png" alt="" width="361" height="483" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/01/ICE-St.-Paul-224x300.png 224w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/01/ICE-St.-Paul.png 303w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 361px) 100vw, 361px" /></div>
ICE Baltimore. Agents caught Cuban national Juan Ojeda Chang, who was arrested and convicted of Drug Trafficking and Weapons.
<div class="image"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class=" wp-image-867487 aligncenter" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/01/ICE-Baltimore-300x224.png" alt="" width="494" height="369" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/01/ICE-Baltimore-300x224.png 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/01/ICE-Baltimore.png 344w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 494px) 100vw, 494px" /></div>
ICE Dallas. Agents captured Jeering Alcides Godoy-Linares, a Honduran convicted of assaulting a family member and Evading Arrest Detention. ICE agents in Dallas also caught Mexican national and illegal alien Cesar Mendoza Gonzalez, who was convicted of Felony Possession of a Controlled Substance.
<div class="image"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class=" wp-image-867471 aligncenter" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/01/ICE-Dallas-197x300.png" alt="" width="288" height="439" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/01/ICE-Dallas-197x300.png 197w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/01/ICE-Dallas.png 284w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 288px) 100vw, 288px" /></div>
<div class="image"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class=" wp-image-867481 aligncenter" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/01/ICE-Dallas-2.png" alt="" width="298" height="364" /></div>
ICE Atlanta. An illegal alien and Senegalese national was captured by immigration enforcement agents at the Hartsfield–Jackson Atlanta International Airport in a secure area. The illegal alien was working for National Aviation Services as a garbage collector and had first been encountered by Border Patrol agents in Yuma, Arizona in 2022 under the Biden administration.
<div class="image"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class=" wp-image-867477 aligncenter" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/01/ICE-Atlanta-290x300.png" alt="" width="309" height="320" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/01/ICE-Atlanta-290x300.png 290w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/01/ICE-Atlanta.png 489w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 309px) 100vw, 309px" /></div>

ICE arrests

Meet The Criminal Illegal Aliens Captured In ICE’s Sunday Raids

The House Subcommittee on Immigration Integrity, Security, and Enforcement is set to hold a hearing on the Biden administration’s failure to secure the border and potential solutions the Trump administration could employ, The Daily Wire has learned.
The upcoming hearing, titled “Restoring Immigration Enforcement in America,” is set to take place on Wednesday, January 22nd, just two days after Donald Trump is inaugurated as the 47th president. It will be the first House Judiciary Committee hearing of the year, and &#8220;will examine how the Biden Administration dismantled immigration enforcement and what the Trump administration can do to restore integrity to America’s immigration system,” according to a description of the hearing obtained by The Daily Wire.
“The American people gave Republicans a mandate in November when they put us in the driver’s seat,” said Texas Rep. Brandon Gill (R.) who will participate in the upcoming hearing. “The Judiciary Committee Republicans are ready to hit the ground running, restore law and order back in our home districts, and secure the southern border.”
“With President Trump as our leader, we have momentum and energy as we hold our first Judiciary hearing of the year,” he told The Daily Wire.
Just under <a href="https://www.cbp.gov/newsroom/stats/nationwide-encounters">11 million</a> illegal alien encounters were between fiscal year 2021 and October 2024 under the Biden administration. The figure marks a colossal increase from President Donald Trump’s first term, when there were roughly 3 million nationwide encounters with illegal aliens. The Biden administration has even rushed to <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/exclusive-biden-races-to-sell-off-border-wall-parts-before-trump-takes-office">sell off border wall material</a> for pennies on the dollar in the final days before Trump returns to office, The Daily Wire revealed.
Trump has pledged to strengthen border security through a slate of different policies and carry out the largest mass deportation operation in American history, which is expected to initially focus on illegal aliens who have been convicted of violent crimes.
A series of polls have found that Americans are widely supportive of Trump’s immigration agenda. Nearly <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/americans-strongly-supportive-of-trumps-mass-deportation-agenda-poll-finds">60 percent</a> of respondents to one poll said that they would support an effort to deport all illegal aliens from the United States, not just those who have been convicted of a violent crime. One poll from this summer found that a majority of American adults want <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/majority-of-americans-want-fewer-immigrants-poll-finds">less immigration</a> into the United States.
Trump is expected to swiftly reinstate the Remain in Mexico policy upon retaking office. The measure, which required migrants to remain in Mexico while their asylum claims were processed, was ditched by the Biden administration, which allowed migrants to be released into the United States. Some migrants were released into the country by the Biden administration and given immigration court dates <a href="https://nypost.com/2023/05/11/migrants-admitted-to-us-given-2035-immigration-court-dates/">in 2035</a>.
Trump has nominated South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem to serve as Secretary of Homeland Security and tapped former Acting Director of Immigration and Customs Enforcement Tom Homan as his <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/trumps-border-czar-has-a-plan-to-stop-illegal-immigration">border czar</a>.
Noem said today in her confirmation hearing that the Trump administration will end the CBPOne App, a controversial program that allows migrants to remotely schedule their asylum appointments, increasing the flow of migrants into the United States.

Border wall

EXCLUSIVE: First House Judiciary Hearing Of 2025 To Focus On Biden Border Failures

Biden Administration

Border Crisis

Donald Trump

House Republicans

Menu

Spencer Lindquist and Mary Margaret Olohan

EXCLUSIVE: Dems Rage Over Nashville ICE Raids That Targeted Rapists And Gang Members

Feds Make Largest Fentanyl Bust In History, Arrest Illegal Alien With Ties To Deadly Cartel

Meet The Criminal Illegal Aliens Captured In ICE’s Sunday Raids

EXCLUSIVE: First House Judiciary Hearing Of 2025 To Focus On Biden Border Failures