The Memphis City Council on Tuesday, October 20, passed a nonbinding resolution calling for the removal of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents and the Tennessee National Guard from the Memphis Safe Task Force, Tennessee Lookout reported. The resolution was approved 9-0 with one council member abstaining, and drew dozens of speakers during public comment, none of whom opposed it, according to the report.

Source: Tennessee Lookout

The measure was sponsored by Councilmembers Michalyn Easter-Thomas and Yolanda Cooper-Sutton, the City of Memphis committee agenda shows. “It's time for them to leave,” Easter-Thomas said, according to Tennessee Lookout. The resolution highlights “concerns about due process and the impact of federal immigration enforcement on local communities, including the disruption and separation of Memphis families,” and calls instead for “sustainable public safety strategies that reflect community priorities and needs.”

Source: Memphis City Council committee agenda (City of Memphis)

9-0Council vote, with one abstention
120+Immigrants detained in the Aug. 30 nightclub raid cited by the resolution
25-year lowMemphis crime level reported by Memphis police before the deployment, per the resolution

According to the resolution, as reported by Tennessee Lookout, the measure references an August 30 raid at a Memphis nightclub that detained more than 120 immigrants and the deaths of six people linked to task force operations, including four Black men fatally shot by members of the group earlier this year. The resolution says no task force members have faced criminal charges in the deaths. Those are the resolution's stated grounds, presented here as its claims, not as independently adjudicated findings.

Source: Tennessee Lookout

The Memphis Safe Task Force is a multi-agency effort that includes the Tennessee Highway Patrol, the Department of Homeland Security, the IRS and other agencies, Tennessee Lookout reported. Federal officials defended it after the vote: U.S. Attorney Todd Blanche cited its role in maintaining low crime rates and said it would remain in the city “as long as it takes,” according to the report. Because the resolution is nonbinding, it does not by itself remove any agency or force any immediate change.

Source: Tennessee Lookout

What is solid

  • The council passed the nonbinding resolution on Oct. 20 by 9-0 with one abstention, per Tennessee Lookout; the sponsors are named in the city's own committee agenda.
  • The resolution asks for ICE and the National Guard to be removed from the Memphis Safe Task Force and is not legally binding.
  • A senior federal official, U.S. Attorney Todd Blanche, defended the task force after the vote, per the same reporting.

What is only claimed

  • The resolution's references to six deaths linked to task force operations and to a 25-year crime low are the council's stated grounds as reported — they have not been adjudicated in the sources cited, and federal and state supporters credit the task force with reducing crime.