U.S. Sen. Marsha Blackburn says Immigration and Customs Enforcement has helped drive major crime reductions in Memphis and aided arrests across Tennessee, citing federal and city-linked figures. But several headline claims in her account—including nationwide deportation totals and a purported spike in assaults on ICE agents—are not independently verifiable from public data, and some have been challenged by other reporting.
U.S. Sen. Marsha Blackburn, a Tennessee Republican who serves on the Senate Judiciary Committee, praised Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) in an opinion column published Friday, arguing that stepped-up immigration enforcement and coordination with local police have improved safety in Tennessee.
Blackburn wrote that, since President Donald Trump’s Inauguration Day, ICE operations have deported “more than 600,000” people and prompted “1.9 million” additional immigrants to “self-deport.” The column linked those figures to a Department of Homeland Security page. However, independent reporting has previously found that the federal government has not consistently released underlying, publicly verifiable datasets supporting some of its large percentage and total claims related to enforcement and assaults on agents.
Memphis task force and crime statistics
Blackburn’s column highlighted the “Memphis Safe Task Force,” describing it as launched in September and crediting it with a sharp decline in crime. A U.S. Marshals Service press release dated December 15, 2025—issued in the task force’s name—said the initiative had made more than 4,000 arrests since its launch and reported sizable drops in several categories, including murder and motor vehicle theft. The release cited reductions of about 39% in murders and roughly 70% in motor vehicle thefts, along with declines in sexual assault and robbery.
Separately, national reporting has described the Memphis operation as beginning in late September 2025 and resulting in thousands of arrests and a marked decline in serious crime, while also straining the local jail and court system and drawing criticism from some residents and civil-rights advocates who say the enforcement surge has produced heavy traffic stops and heightened fear in immigrant communities.
Blackburn also wrote that the task force carried out more than 5,800 arrests. That figure does not match the U.S. Marshals Service’s publicly stated “more than 4,000 arrests” as of mid-December 2025, and other reporting in late 2025 cited totals in the low-thousands rather than 5,800.
Local cooperation and the 287(g) agreement
Blackburn pointed to cooperation between local, state and federal agencies, including a 287(g) agreement signed by Shelby County Sheriff Floyd Bonner.
Local reporting has confirmed that Bonner signed a 287(g) agreement in November 2025 under the “jail enforcement” model, which generally allows local jails to hold people for a limited period on ICE detainers and to coordinate with federal authorities. Bonner also said at the time that he was not sure whether the agreement had fully taken effect and indicated that deputies had not yet received ICE training.
Claims about specific arrests and incidents
Blackburn’s column cited two recent examples outside Memphis: the arrest of a methamphetamine dealer in Monroe County “last weekend,” and the detention in Nashville of suspected Tren de Aragua gang members tied to what she described as a transnational sex-trafficking ring. Those assertions were not independently confirmed in the public sources reviewed here, and additional documentation would be needed to verify the dates, identities, charging documents and agencies involved.
Political rhetoric and assaults on ICE agents
Blackburn contrasted the enforcement surge with criticism from prominent Democrats, citing statements that compared ICE to “secret police” and the “Gestapo,” and she wrote that assaults on ICE agents rose by “1,300%” over the last year.
DHS has publicly claimed very large percentage increases in assaults on ICE personnel in official releases in 2025, though the specific percentages reported by DHS have varied by time window. At the same time, other reporting that examined publicly available court records said there was no public evidence supporting increases as dramatic as the “more than 1,000%” figures referenced by the White House and DHS, finding instead a more modest rise in charges—while noting that court filings may not capture all incidents.
Blackburn also referenced a Minneapolis episode involving a 37-year-old woman, Renee Good, saying she hit an ICE agent and that the agent later used lethal force after sustaining internal bleeding. The circumstances of the shooting—and whether the agent was struck by the vehicle—have been contested in media accounts, and public details have continued to develop.
Disputed Tennessee protest claim
Blackburn further wrote that a Tennessee outlet falsely reported that state troopers ran over a protester, and that dashcam footage later showed the person walked away unharmed. This claim could not be independently verified from the materials reviewed here beyond Blackburn’s account and would require the underlying dashcam video and contemporaneous reporting to confirm.
