TIRRC Files Lawsuit Against Tennessee Highway Patrol Challenging their Collaboration with ICE
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
May 19, 2026
Contact: Tennessee Immigrant and Refugee Rights Coalition
Elizabeth Madeira
TIRRC Files Lawsuit Against Tennessee Highway Patrol Challenging their Collaboration with ICE
NASHVILLE—Today, Tennessee Immigrant and Refugee Rights Coalition filed a lawsuit in Davidson County Chancery Court on behalf of its members and of taxpayers against the Tennessee Highway Patrol. Through this lawsuit, TIRRC and these taxpayers challenge the Highway Patrol’s increasingly commonplace practice of teaming up with federal immigration agents to stop motorists in order to investigate their immigration status. That practice involves the THP directing its troopers to deliberately and systematically conduct traffic stops for the ulterior purpose of looking for civil immigration violations.
The lawsuit alleges that THP’s programmatic engagement in this deliberate tag-team, immigration-enforcement tactic violates the Fourth Amendment’s protection against unreasonable seizures and the Equal Protection Clause’s prohibition against racial profiling, and it likewise falls outside the scope of the Highway Patrol’s statutory powers. Mike Holley, Senior Counsel for TIRRC stated, "The THP’s programmatic use of this tactic has essentially turned some state roadways into immigration checkpoints, and it has wasted THP resources that should be spent to make those roadways safer. The THP showcased this tactic in their concentrated operation in Nashville in May 2025, and today the THP continues using it on a daily basis in Memphis."
In the lawsuit, the seven plaintiff taxpayers—community leaders, activists, and citizens from various walks of life—explain that they are disturbed at how THP’s extensive use of this tactic has intimidated immigrant communities and has repeatedly and arbitrarily torn families apart, tarnishing our nation’s reputation for decency and fairness. The lawsuit asks that the court declare these programmatic practices unlawful and that it prohibit the THP from directing its troopers to deliberately and systematically make traffic stops for the ulterior purpose of conducting immigration investigations.
“At TIRRC we are focused on advocating for the rights and freedoms of our community members using every tool available to us, including the power of the law," stated Lisa Sherman Luna, Executive Director at TIRRC. "Regardless of race, immigration status, or where we live in the state, all of us are guaranteed the rights granted to us in the Constitution and we will continue to defend our community in the streets and in the courts when our rights are violated."
