TIRRC Files Lawsuit Against Tennessee Highway Patrol Over Withheld Immigration Enforcement Records
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
August 14, 2025
CONTACT
TIRRC Files Lawsuit Against Tennessee Highway Patrol Over Withheld Immigration Enforcement Records
Coalition demands transparency after state agency refuses to release public documents related to ICE partnership operation
NASHVILLE— Earlier this year, the Tennessee Highway Patrol partnered with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) in order to use its state powers to enforce federal civil immigration laws through stops, interrogations, and detentions of motorists on roadways in Middle Tennessee. In May, the Tennessee Immigrant and Refugee Coalition (TIRRC) filed Public Records Act requests to access the records related to this operation. Although the Tennessee Highway Patrol produced some records, it also implausibly denied the existence of others, redacted some groundlessly, and delayed its production of video footage to the point of denial.
Therefore, TIRRC has filed a complaint in Davidson County Chancery Court seeking access to the public records the organization has been lawfully requesting since May.
Tennessee Immigrant and Refugee Rights Coalition Executive Director, Lisa Sherman Luna, announced the lawsuit this afternoon saying:
“The Tennessee Public Records Act ensures that ordinary Tennesseans can access information about how their government works and how state authority is being exercised in their name. It is important for all of us that state agencies comply with their obligations under this law.
“All Tennesseans deserve leaders who will be transparent and honest with the people they are charged with protecting. It’s not only our legal right, but also our duty as an organization that prioritizes the rights of immigrants and refugees across the state of Tennessee that we hold leaders accountable when they harm our neighbors and then limit access to public records about their conduct.”
###
The Tennessee Immigrant & Refugee Rights Coalition (TIRRC) is a statewide, immigrant and refugee-led collaboration whose mission is to build power, amplify our voices, and organize communities to advocate for our rights in order to build a stronger, more inclusive Tennessee where people of all nationalities, immigration statuses, and racial identities can belong and thrive. Since its founding in 2001, TIRRC has grown from a grassroots network of community leaders into one of the most diverse and effective coalitions of its kind, a model for emerging immigrant rights organizations in the Southeast and throughout the United States.