Politics

  Update, June 28:

The sponsors of a proposal to limit Davidson County's cooperation with federal immigration authorities now say they won't push for a final vote on it next week.

That comes after the plan was criticized by Nashville Mayor Megan Barry, Republican state lawmakers and Sheriff Daron Hall.

A Nashville proposal to limit cooperation with federal immigration authorities is drawing strong condemnation from some top Middle Tennessee Republicans.

The sponsor of a 2009 state law banning so-called "sanctuary cities" says he's prepared to have the Metro Council proposal struck down if it wins final approval at a meeting next month.

The proposal passed a second of three votes Tuesday night, over the objections of some council members who asked for more time.

Charlie Morris vividly recalls his brother's murder.

Jesse Lee Bond was a sharecropper in Shelby County. Suspicious because his harvests never seemed to cover his debts, in the spring of 1939, Bond asked the local general store for a receipt of his seed purchases.

For his diligence, he was shot, castrated, dragged and left for dead in the Hatchie River.

So far this month, three dozen immigrants have been held in Nashville's jail at the request of federal authorities.

That fact is adding some urgency to a debate that's scheduled to begin tonight. At issue: how much Davidson County should work with immigration officials.

The proposed ordinances would prohibit the county jail from holding people on immigration violations alone. Local law enforcement would also be barred from sharing information about custody status and court dates with immigration officials.

The maker of an opioid treatment that's come under scrutiny recently contributed more than $20,000 to candidates in Tennessee last year.

The donations appear to be part of an aggressive nationwide campaign aimed at influencing state legislatures.

The company is called Alkermes, and it makes a medication known as Vivitrol.

Federal authorities confirm that they're rounding up Iraqis in Nashville and elsewhere for possible deportation, in a sweep that began last week and so far has resulted in six people being detained.

Immigration authorities say the sweep is aimed at removing those with criminal convictions, as part of a deal with the Iraqi government.

Governor Bill Haslam says he'll stay out of the debate over how much Nashville law enforcement must cooperate with federal immigration authorities, but he doubts the city will have much luck if it hopes to defy President Trump.

The Metro Council is expected to start discussion of some limits later this month. The proposals include requiring federal authorities to present a warrant if they want immigrants to be held longer than U.S.-born arrestees. The ordinance undergoes its first reading — typically a formality — on Tuesday night. 

Haslam says he isn't going to stand in the council's way.