ICE and multiple agencies maintain a large task force in Memphis amid recording disputes

The Memphis Safe Task Force, a joint operation involving ICE and more than a dozen local, state and federal agencies, maintains a presence of over 1,200 officers in Memphis. Activist Hunter Demster, who runs a soup kitchen, has been documenting immigration arrests and, with the ACLU, filed a lawsuit alleging that the task force violates First Amendment rights by enforcing Tennessee’s Halo Law, which criminalizes approaching within 25 feet of an officer after a warning.

In a video released this week, Demster recorded officers pulling a man from a ditch while staying the required distance, but officers demanded he move farther away, eventually leading to his being tackled and handcuffed when he refused. The complaint states that such enforcement of the Halo Law has occurred dozens of times. The case has drawn attention from federal lawmakers, including Rep. Maxwell Alejandro Frost, who referenced Memphis while introducing a bill to allow civil suits against federal officers who obstruct recording. The situation highlights tensions between immigration enforcement, local activism, and legal protections for media documentation.