Media Tennessee journalist detained by ICE sues, claims arrest violated her rights by Kelly Milan - 03/07/26 8:36 AM ET by Kelly Milan - 03/07/26 8:36 AM ET Share ✕ LinkedIn LinkedIn Email Email NOW PLAYING NASHVILLE, Tenn. ( WKRN ) — A reporter for a Spanish-language news outlet was taken into custody by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officials in Nashville earlier this week. Estefany Rodriguez, a journalist with Nashville Noticias and Univision 42, covers immigration stories and her attorneys believe the Wednesday arrest should have never happened. According to a statement from the station, Rodriguez was with her husband outside a gym on Murfreesboro Pike when several vehicles surrounded their marked news car. The station said several men stepped out of those vehicles and demanded that Rodriguez be taken into custody. She was later transported to an immigration detention center. Her attorneys have since filed an emergency petition in federal court asking a judge to order her release. Rodriguez’s lawyer, Joel Coxander with MIRA Legal, said there had been no formal immigration case filed against her until now. “Up until now, she hasn’t had a case with ICE charging her with anything,” Coxander said. “There has been no case in immigration court.” According to the federal lawsuit, Rodriguez entered the U.S. in 2021 on a tourist visa. Her attorneys said she later applied for asylum and has been seeking a green card through her U.S. citizen husband. They said she had been cooperating with immigration officials and was expected to report to the ICE office later this month. But when her attorney checked with the administration about her case, he said officials told him the charging documents were being finalized. “Now ICE has claimed her failing to show up Wednesday; she is a flight risk,” Coxander said. “But in this case, there was an officer two days before that said that appointment does not exist.” Under federal law, immigration agents can make a warrantless arrest only if they have reason to believe someone is violating immigration law and is likely to escape before a warrant can be obtained. Rodriguez’s attorneys argue that was not the case here. They say the reporter had been cooperating with immigration authorities and had plans to appear for a scheduled meeting with ICE. Because of that, the lawsuit claims the arrest violated Rodriguez’s Fourth Amendment rights. Now in detention, her attorneys said Rodriguez may miss an important step in her immigration process. “The one meeting she might actually miss is she is supposed to go do her fingerprints for USCIS for her Green Card application on the 17th this month,” Coxander said. “You can’t really get there if you are in detention.” Advocacy groups have also spoken out. “It’s not lost on us that as a reporter, Estefany honestly and courageously told real stories about the harms caused by ICE and the people they targeted and detained,” the Tennessee Immigrant and Refugee Rights Coalition said in a statement. On Friday, March 6, government attorneys  filed  a response in the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Tennessee’s Nashville Division, claiming the allegation that Rodriguez was taken into custody without a warrant “is simply not true.” Government attorneys went on to state that Rodriguez’s B2 tourist via was expired, and references to a work permit or asylum application “does not negate the fact that she is an undocumented alien.” “[Rodriguez] has unlawfully remained in the United States since at least September 9, 2021,” the filing reads, in part. “During her arrest, she was advised of the reasons for being removable.” The reporter’s attorneys  filed  a response Friday standing by their claims, arguing the government “implicitly admitted” ICE agents made a warrantless arrest of Rodriguez. Her attorneys say the court should order her both her release and for her to amend her petition by adding a First Amendment retaliation claim by close of business Monday, March 9. “These facts indicate retaliation against Rodriguez in violation of the First Amendment due to her work as a journalist, including reporting on ICE,” the filing reads, in part. The administration, in its own filing, said she was arrested during a targeted enforcement operation. “ICE arrested Estefany Rodriguez-Florez, an illegal alien from Colombia, March 4 during a targeted enforcement operation,” the complaint reads. “Rodriguez-Florez entered the United States with a tourist visa March 10, 2021, which was valid until March 23, 2021. She failed to depart the country and is in violation of the conditions of her visa and currently has no lawful immigration status.” “She will remain in ICE custody pen