Tennessee House Speaker Cameron Sexton has publicly called on Nashville Mayor Freddie O’Connell to rescind an executive order that requires city emergency personnel to report any interaction they have had with immigration officials within 24 hours.
“While Metro has refused to assist federal agents with ICE; they decided to escalate it by forcing all employees to act as big brother,” Sexton posted Thursday to the social media platform X.
“The time is now to rescind the big brother executive order and return to normal communications with state and federal authorities,” Sexton’s post read. Sexton tagged Tennessee Congressman Mark Green, Tennessee Attorney General Jonathon Skrmetti and Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem in his post.
Sexton’s post is the latest in a series of public criticisms since last week targeting O’Connell, a Democrat who leads Tennessee’s most populous city, which also serves as the seat of the GOP-controlled General Assembly.
Last week, Tennessee Republican Congressman Andy Ogles accused the mayor of obstructing the work of Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials, citing O’Connell’s public statements criticizing mass enforcement activities that swept up nearly 200 people in the heart of the city’s immigrant neighborhoods in early May.