ICE detains reporter after dropping off her eight-year-old daughter

A Nashville journalist who reported on ICE crackdowns has been detained by the agency and is now being transferred to a detention facility in Louisiana.

A journalist who spent months reporting on immigration raids in Tennessee has been arrested and detained by ICE.

Estefany Rodríguez, a reporter with Spanish-language outlet Nashville Noticias, was taken into custody by agents from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement during a traffic stop in Nashville earlier this week.

Rodríguez was reportedly in a car with her husband, a U.S. citizen, when agents stopped the vehicle and detained her. Her lawyer says officers did not present an arrest warrant at the scene and instead showed a “Notice to Appear”, a document that typically begins immigration court proceedings.

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Since the arrest, the journalist has been moved out of Tennessee and is believed to be heading to a federal immigration detention centre in Louisiana.

Her immigration attorney, Joel Coxander, said Rodríguez had previously received a letter from ICE asking her to come to their office for processing, which he insists was not mandatory.

“So ICE sends out these letters to citizens who’ve never had any contact with [them],” he says. “The letters just say, like, ‘Hey, please come by the ICE office.’”

“They’re invitations,” Coxander added. “They don’t say they’re required. They say, ‘Come in so we can help ensure the best outcome for your case.’ They cite no legal requirement to come.”

“They don’t say they’re required. They say, ‘Come in so we can help ensure the best outcome for your case.’ They cite no legal requirement to come. And that’s because, for a lot of people, they have no connection to ICE, this isn’t connected with an application with USCIS — or at least it doesn’t say anything like that.”

“If you don’t want to delay the processing of your case and to help ensure the best outcome,” read the bottom of the letter, “IT IS VERY IMPORTANT that you make every effort to keep this appointment.”

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Rodríguez, who is originally from Colombia, entered the U.S. legally on a tourist visa in 2021 before applying for political asylum after receiving death threats linked to her journalism.

Her employer also spoke out following the arrest. In a statement, Nashville Noticias said: “Nashville Noticias LLC expresses its respect for the laws of the United States and hopes that this situation will be resolved favorably for our colleague so that she can be released soon, as she needs to reunite with her young daughter and husband to continue her legal process within the framework permitted by law.”

Rodríguez has spent months covering immigration enforcement operations and ICE crackdowns in the Nashville area, reporting on how the raids affect local immigrant communities.

Following her detention, her legal team filed an emergency petition in federal court seeking a writ of habeas corpus, asking a judge to review whether her detention is lawful and potentially order her release.

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