ICE detains journalist working for Spanish-language outlet

Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents arrested a journalist working for local news outlet Nashville Noticias during a traffic stop Wednesday in South Nashville, according to an emergency petition filed by her attorneys in federal court.

Attorneys for the journalist, Estefany Maria Rodriguez Flores, wrote in the petition filed Wednesday that she was arrested without a warrant. Rodriguez said she was not shown one, according to her petition. One of her attorneys, Joel Coxander of Mira Legal, spoke with an ICE agent who indicated there was no arrest warrant for her at the time of her arrest, the petition states.

The Department of Homeland Security said on Friday that this is “simply not true” and that it had a valid arrest warrant on Rodriguez. It filed in court a picture of a crumpled piece of paper dated March 2 titled “Warrant for Arrest of Alien.” The paper, which appears to have been signed by an authorized immigration officer, orders the arrest of Rodriguez for removal proceedings.

She is currently detained in the Etowah County Jail in northeast Alabama, according to DHS’ court filing.

Rodriguez had a meeting scheduled for March 17 with ICE’s Enforcement and Removal Operations. She frequently reported on stories critical of ICE for Nashville Noticias, the Spanish-language outlet.

Nashville Noticias said in a statement Thursday on social media that it “hopes that this situation will be resolved favorably for our colleague so that she can be released soon, as she needs to reunite with her young daughter and husband to continue her legal process with the framework permitted by law.”

“We trust in the justice system of the United States of America,” Nashville Noticias said in the statement.

Rodriguez’s attorneys are asking a judge to order immigration authorities to release her and declare her detention unlawful. DHS opposes that request.

Rodriguez entered the country legally in March 2021 under a tourist visa. She has a valid work permit, married a U.S. citizen in January, and has green card and asylum applications pending, DHS records filed in court show. Her asylum application has been pending since 2021. She “has followed ICE’s express directions at all times,” the petition states.

Rodriguez’s authorization under her tourist visa has expired, DHS records show. The department wrote that her reference to having an asylum application or work permit “does not negate the fact that she is an undocumented alien and should be detained pending a bond hearing which she has not yet requested at the filing of this response.”

Series of rescheduled meetings preceded arrest, petition says

Rodriguez’s petition says that Rodriguez received a letter in January asking her to come to ICE Enforcement and Removal Operation’s field office in Nashville on Jan. 26. The office closed that day because of winter weather, which covered Nashville in ice.

A second letter, dated Feb. 10, asked Rodriguez to appear at the office Feb. 25.

Rodriguez’s husband and attorney appeared at the office Feb. 23 to ask if it would rather send a notice to appear than hold a meeting, the petition says. A notice to appear is a formal document that indicates the government is beginning removal proceedings against someone.

An ICE agent at the office told Rodriguez’s attorney and husband he could not find her in the agency’s computer system for appointments. An agent then said Rodriguez should appear on a different date. This agent handed her attorney a piece of paper saying Rodriguez should appear March 17, the petition says.

Rodriguez was detained the morning of March 4 outside a gym on Murfreesboro Pike. She was with her husband traveling in a car with the Nashville Noticias logo on its outside.

The Tennessee Immigrant and Refugee Rights Coalition, whose attorneys are also representing Rodriguez, said it stands with Rodriguez. TIRRC in a statement called for the end of the “aggressive deployment of immigration agents in our neighborhoods and community.” South Nashville and Antioch were the site of a widespread immigration enforcement crackdown in May 2025 by ICE agents and Tennessee Highway Patrol troopers.

ICE did not return The Tennessean’s request for comment sent March 5.

U.S. District Judge Eli Richardson gave both sides quick deadlines for filing documents, as he “understands the desire to expedite briefing on this particular matter.”

Arrest marks second time Hispanic reporter targeted in Tennessee

Rodriguez is the second reporter from a Spanish news network in Tennessee to be arrested and detained by ICE.

In 2018, Memphis Noticias founder Manuel Duran was arrested while reporting on an immigration protest.

According to previous reporting by the Commercial Appeal, part of the USA TODAY Network, he was the only journalist arrested in front of a Memphis criminal justice center the day of the protest, even as other journalists were documenting the melee in the street.

While charges against him were quickly dropped, ICE arrested Duran shortly thereafter, citing a missed immigration hearing in 2007.

His arrest led to more than 465 days behind bars and sparked international attention, lawsuits and protests in Memphis.

In 2019, an immigration judge ordered that Duran could be set free on bond while his asylum case was pending.

In 2022, that asylum was granted, and Duran continues his work in Memphis.