The Metro Nashville Council approved a modified version of the budget submitted in May by Mayor Freddie O’Connell, including the nearly $1.5 million he requested to appropriate as grants for the Tennessee Immigrant and Refugee Rights Coalition (TIRRC) and Tennessee Justice for Our Neighbors (TNJFON).
In a 35-2 decision on Tuesday, the Metro Council approved a $3.8 billion budget after adopting a substitute budget filed by Council Member Kyonzte Toombs that replaced the version submitted last month by O’Connell.
The Metro Council’s version made modest cuts and redirected about $8.6 million from the mayor’s proposal, increasing funding for items including eviction services, homeless programs, and the Nashville Fire Department.
However, the version approved by the Metro Council preserved most of the grants proposed by O’Connell, including the $735,000 he requested for TIRRC and the $718,000 the mayor sought for TNJFON.
The grants were approved despite public uncertainty about how the money will be used.
While a spokesman for O’Connell told The Tennessee Star that the money would not go toward legal representation or advocacy for illegal aliens, Metro Clerk Austin Kyle later told The Star the budget items reflect extensions of previously awarded grants. According to Kyle, the primary change is the funding source: the 2027 grants are structured as a direct appropriation rather than federal funding from the Biden-era American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA), which was used from 2022-2026.
Both the 2022 contracts between the nonprofits and Metro and the 2022 proposal submitted by TIRRC and TNJFON when originally requesting the funding appear to undercut claims by O’Connell’s office.
Described as a “pilot program for immigration legal services” in one city contract from 2022, TIRRC and TNJFON that year submitted a joint proposal requesting ARPA money to help the nonprofits serve foreign-born Davidson County residents “of all immigration statuses.”
Among groups who would benefit from the funding, the proposal said the nonprofits would use the money to provide legal services or education for those seeking “protections from deportation,” as well as asylum seekers, people seeking work permits, and recipients of Temporary Protected Status (TPS) or Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA).
TIRRC said some of the funding would be used to hire a staff attorney, three paralegals, and a volunteer coordinator, while TNJFON said it would use the money to hire two new immigration lawyers, one new paralegal, and one legal advocate, and to continue serving its 327 existing clients.
Their proposal also cited a document from the Vera Institute of Justice, which urged local governments to use the one-time cash injection from the Biden administration to implement permanent programs that provide legal services to immigrants.
Amid the apparent contradiction and public uncertainty about exactly what Metro is funding with its 2027 budget, The Star filed a public records request under the Tennessee Public Records Act (TPRA) last week seeking Metro’s justification for the proposed spending.
So far, three Metro Nashville departments and the Metro Council have confirmed receiving the request.
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Tom Pappert is a 2025 recipient of the Dao Prize and the lead reporter for The Tennessee Star. He also reports for the Star News Network. Follow Tom on X. Email tips to [email protected].
