Trump’s Memphis Crime Task Force Arrested 800+ Immigrants—Only 2% for Violent Crimes

Elmer, a 44-year-old street vendor from Honduras, stood behind a table of worn but carefully cleaned tennis shoes outside a Memphis convenience store on a cloudy February Saturday. The 44-year-old father kept one eye on customers and another on the busy street behind him—ready to serve or to run.

His vigilance wasn’t unfounded. Last fall, as Elmer and his son set up their shoe stand, agents in Homeland Security vests arrested two Guatemalan men in a nearby parking lot. Hours later, the Mexican owner of a taco truck across the street was detained by immigration authorities. In December, Elmer’s 19-year-old nephew was taken during a traffic stop; he remains incarcerated in a Tennessee detention center.

Elmer, who fled Honduras seven years ago to escape gang violence and is not authorized to be in the United States, worries he and his son could be next. He spoke with MLK50: Justice Through Journalism and ProPublica on the condition that only his first name be used.

Memphis Safe Task Force: Crime Reduction or Immigration Sweep?

Those arrests were part of President Donald Trump’s September order deploying more than two dozen state, local, and federal law enforcement agencies—including the National Guard—to Memphis neighborhoods. Unlike federal operations in Minneapolis or Chicago, where immigration officers targeted deportations, the Memphis Safe Task Force was framed as a crime-fighting initiative: “to end street and violent crime in Memphis to the greatest possible extent.”

Arrest Data Reveals Disproportionate Immigration Enforcement

An analysis of nearly four months of daily arrest reports—from October through early February—by MLK50 and ProPublica found that just over a quarter of the more than 5,200 arrests made by the task force were for violent crimes. The majority of those violent crime arrests stemmed from outstanding warrants.

Despite the stated focus on violent criminals, the operation also ensnared more than 800 immigrants deemed unlawfully present in the United States. Of those, only 17—just 2%—were also arrested for violent crimes, according to the analysis.

Being unlawfully present on its own is a civil offense, not a crime.

How to Share Your Story

We are still reporting on the Memphis Safe Task Force. If you or someone you know has interacted with law enforcement since the task force began, we want to hear from you. This includes encounters with the Memphis Police Department, Tennessee National Guard, Tennessee Highway Patrol, Homeland Security Investigations, or Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

If you work for one of these agencies, we’d also like to talk to you.

Contact Wendi C. Thomas via Signal at wendicthomas.96 or email at [email protected].