MEMPHIS, Tenn. — The Memphis City Council has formally gone on record against the federal and state law enforcement surge in the city, approving a resolution Tuesday night that asks the state’s National Guard troops and federal immigration agents to pull out.
The measure passed 9-0, with council member Ford Canale abstaining. It carries no legal force, since the council has no power to order either agency out, but members wanted their opposition in the public record.
The resolution targets the hundreds of officers working under the Memphis Safe Task Force, the multi-agency operation sent to the city by an executive order from President Donald Trump last September. It points to an immigration raid at El Corralon, a nightclub on Macon Road, where more than 120 people were detained, and says the raid raised due process worries and split up local families.
It also cites six deaths tied to the operation. Four Black men were shot and killed by task force members over two months earlier this year, and two other people died in vehicle chases. No task force member has faced criminal charges in those deaths.
Dozens of residents spoke in favor during public comment, and nobody spoke against it. The document notes that the Memphis Police Department had already reported crime at a 25-year low before the task force arrived, and it calls on the city to work with residents and community groups on longer-term public safety plans.
Federal officials have credited the task force, which includes the Tennessee Highway Patrol, Homeland Security and the IRS, with driving crime down and have said it will stay in Memphis.
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Filed under: Memphis TN Politics News
