Memphis ICE – A massive immigration operation in Memphis has been running since September with 2,700 officers, but community members who film the arrests face threats, assault, and legal action. The ACLU has filed a lawsuit alleging pattern of intimidation.
Hunter Demster was standing in a parking lot when an officer driving a task force vehicle swerved toward him, missing by inches. The man who runs a soup kitchen in Memphis had been filming immigration arrests with his phone.
What happened next is part of a pattern that has now landed in federal court.
The Memphis Safe Task Force has stationed more than 2,700 officers in the city since September.. They come from the Department of Homeland Security, other law enforcement agencies, and the National Guard.. None of them want to be photographed.. Demster and other community members who try to document the operation say they are facing retaliation for exercising their First Amendment rights.
The ACLU filed a lawsuit last week against task force leaders.. The complaint runs dozens of pages.. One plaintiff described being “bumper-rushed” by police officers who came up behind his vehicle so quickly that a collision seemed imminent before they hit the brakes at the last second.. Another community member was assaulted and jailed for attempting to film.
Jessica Choder was tackled by a task force officer when she tried to film a traffic stop. She was held down while an officer threatened to tase her. They took her to jail. The charge against her, resisting official detention, was later dropped.
“It’s retaliation,” Demster said. “And for what? Holding a phone.”
The lawsuit challenges Tennessee’s Halo Law. which makes it a crime to get within 25 feet of an officer after being warned to step away.. Task force agents have been invoking the law against observers who are not interfering with operations. sometimes forcing people back even farther than the law requires so they can no longer see or hear what is happening.
“It unconstitutionally burdens people’s ability to engage in gathering information and recording what task force agents are doing,” ACLU attorney Scarlet Kim said.
The Department of Justice pushed back in a statement, saying the agency “will not tolerate any action that puts our law enforcement officers at risk.”
“We strongly disagree with the allegations in the lawsuit and remain committed to fair, impartial, and professional law enforcement practices to keep Memphians and the American people safe,” a DOJ spokesperson said.
This is not an isolated case. Over the past year, DHS has been sued in multiple cities for allegedly harming protesters and community observers during immigration surges. A case in Chicago was dropped after Operation Midway Blitz ended. Cases in Los Angeles and Minneapolis remain ongoing.
The scale of the Memphis operation is hard to grasp without seeing it.. When reporters visited the city in November, law enforcement vehicles were everywhere.. Immigrant families were afraid to leave their homes for work or to bring their children to school.. US citizens carried their passports with them.. Many described the city as a war zone.
The surge has received little national attention.. Tennessee’s Republican governor supports the operation and has said it will continue indefinitely.. The Trump administration has framed the effort as a crime crackdown rather than an immigration sweep.. Task force officers from other agencies arrest people primarily for traffic violations and other crimes. but they call DHS officers when they encounter immigrants.
Demster believes the lack of coverage is by design. People who want to document what is happening are being silenced, he said. It is all part of the task force’s plan “to operate in the shadows.”
Choder no longer goes out to film as much as she used to. When she does, she stays in her car unless other observers are present. “My family still has a lot of fear and worry anytime I leave the house alone,” she said.
Demster keeps pressing record whenever he can. “We are under full-blown occupation and immigrants are going missing,” he said. “No one should fear their government for holding a phone.”
Agents sometimes sit in their vehicles outside Demster’s house. “It’s terrifying to have to be on guard 100 percent of the time,” he said.
Memphis ICE operation ACLU lawsuit Hunter Demster Jessica Choder Tennessee Halo Law First Amendment rights Memphis Safe Task Force immigration enforcement police retaliation DHS