Nashville neighbors form human chain to stop ICE from taking man into custody

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Wednesday, July 24, 2019
Neighbors form human chain to stop ICE from arresting man
When US Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers tried to take a man into custody, the man's neighbors stepped in to stop the arrest.

NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- When ICE attempted to bring a man into custody in Nashville, his neighbors formed a human chain to stop it.

This happened in the neighborhood of Hermitage in metropolitan Nashville.

For four hours, a man and his son sat inside of a car as two Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents tried to get them to surrender.

VIDEO: Mother of 2 taken into custody by ICE in Echo Park as neighbor tries to intervene

The father is reportedly in the country illegally, so the ICE agents were tasked with bringing him into custody. But when neighbors heard what was going on, they came to assist their neighbor.

"We made sure they had water, they had food, we put gas back in the vehicle when they were getting low just to make sure they were OK," said Felishadae Young.

Hermitage residents say they don't care how someone got here, it's how they act when they are here. "The family don't bother nobody. They work every day, they come home, the kids jump on their trampoline... it's just a community," said Stacey Farley.

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Farley helped create a human chain to help the family get from their car safely into their home, and she didn't think twice about supporting her neighbors.

"I could see if these people were bad criminals, but they're not. They're just trying to provide for their kids," Farley said.

The standoff brought Metro police to the scene to keep the peace, council members, as well as lawyers to evaluate the situation.

"There were two immigration officials sort of bullying a family inside of their own vehicle, telling them that they had an administrative warrant, which isn't the same thing as a judicial warrant, and trying to harass them and fear them into coming out," said Daniel Ayoadeyoon.

At the end of the day, the ICE agents left and the family ended up leaving, too, in search of a better place.