Tennessee leaders talk tough on illegal immigration—but profit from it behind the scenes. While Sheriff Jeff Hughes pleads for deputy pay raises, Reeves & Johnson stage pressers instead of passing laws. It's not leadership—it's hypocrisy.
In a state where illegal immigration is regularly trotted out as red meat for the base, it's time to ask some uncomfortable questions. While lawmakers like Jack Johnson, Lee Reeves, and Andy Ogles stand shoulder-to-shoulder at press conferences titled "Stop the Invasion: Defend Tennessee," it's worth examining whether their tough-on-immigration rhetoric holds up to scrutiny—or if it's just convenient political theater.
Let’s start with the obvious: Freddie O’Connell is a progressive mayor doing what progressive mayors do—protecting illegal immigrants under the guise of compassion. His recent executive order tracking ICE operations in Nashville is unsurprising, even predictable. The real question is: why are there so many illegal immigrants in Tennessee to begin with? And why haven’t our "bold" Republican supermajority in the General Assembly done more to stop the flow?
The Biden administration has created a national disaster at the border. But states aren’t powerless—they can enact laws to curb the consequences. And yet, multiple pieces of legislation in Tennessee this session that sought to crack down on illegal immigration were quietly killed or allowed to languish. Where was the urgency then? If Johnson and Reeves were truly concerned about illegal immigration, they would have championed these measures long before now.
Instead, we get public grandstanding after the fact, when the political optics are favorable. Take Rep. Lee Reeves: a first-time candidate running on the centerpiece of immigration enforcement. He vows to criminalize illegal presence in Tennessee—something other states like Oklahoma and Texas have done. But Reeves’ own business holdings cast a long shadow on that campaign promise.
Back in Houston, Texas, Reeves profits from a 142-unit apartment complex through his company, Triumph Equity Management. Leasing agents at the property are on record confirming that the majority of tenants lack Social Security or ITIN numbers and that the property does not require immigration status verification—even though Texas law allows landlords to do so via credit and background checks. The excuse? That federal Fair Housing laws tie his hands. But that's not how the law works. It was a business decision—one that benefits financially from the very crisis he claims to want to solve.
This is not just hypocrisy; it's opportunism. Reeves purchased the property in 2016 in an area long associated with crime and undocumented immigration. He had to have known the environment. If he didn’t, that’s incompetence. If he did, it makes his political platform even more cynical.
And what of Jack Johnson and Andy Ogles? Johnson, a fixture of Tennessee politics, has had years to lead the charge on state-level immigration policy. Yet it took a headline-grabbing incident involving Nashville’s mayor to finally hold a press conference. Ogles, meanwhile, is quick to threaten investigations and federal probes—but where was that energy when it came time to support laws in his home state that might have actually made a difference?
While they posture and issue statements, Williamson County faces a real crisis: a growing population of undocumented immigrants and an undermanned sheriff’s office. Sheriff Jeff Hughes recently made an impassioned plea to the Williamson County Commission, calling for competitive pay for deputies who put their lives on the line daily. Despite improvements in staffing, Hughes warned that pay compression and low starting wages continue to cripple recruitment and retention efforts.
"We are struggling to compete for top-tier law enforcement professionals," Hughes stated. "Meanwhile, our deputies—some of whom can’t afford to live in the very county they protect—are waiting on the results of a pay study that may already be outdated."
In other words, while the sheriff is fighting to retain the men and women who protect our communities from any number of threats—including the criminal element that often accompanies illegal immigration—state leaders are too busy holding press events to actually fund public safety.
Williamson County cannot afford to become a safe haven for dangerous individuals simply because we can't offer law enforcement officers a living wage. Sheriff Hughes is doing his part. Where are the supposed immigration hawks when it comes to supporting the local boots on the ground?
If Reeves, Johnson, and Ogles really cared about illegal immigration, they might have worked harder to prevent the mess Joe Biden made, not take advantage of it for their own self-glory and political gain. Tennesseans deserve more than showmanship. We deserve results.
The next time they hold a rally to "defend Tennessee," someone ought to ask: defend it from what—or from whom? Because at the moment, the biggest threat to the integrity of our immigration policy isn’t coming from the left. It’s coming from the double-dealing right.
If you support what I do, please consider donating a gift in order to sustain free, independent, and TRULY CONSERVATIVE media that is focused on Middle Tennessee and BEYOND!
Comments ()