An illegal immigrant reporter in Nashville, Tenn., who specialized in coverage of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) arrests got an unexpected surprise when she herself was taken into custody.
Estefany Rodriguez, a Colombian national who works for local Spanish-language outlet Nashville Noticias, was scooped up on Wednesday during a targeted enforcement operation in South Nashville while she was sitting in a marked news car with her husband outside a gym when they were surrounded by several vehicles.
“We really couldn’t understand why we’re being surrounded,” Alejandro Medina told CNN. “We’re definitely shocked.”
(Video: YouTube/Fox Nashville)
It appears that Rodriguez overstayed a tourist visa, according to the feds. She also apparently failed to respond to an ICE request to be interviewed.
Hearing from federal sources that she is in the US illegally as a visa overstay as she entered on a tourist visa in 2021 but violated the terms of it by never leaving. Complicated case though, as she later applied for asylum and Biden admin gave her a work permit/EAD (which isn’t… https://t.co/oZm4HVa5fT
— Bill Melugin (@BillMelugin_) March 6, 2026
“Hearing from federal sources that she is in the US illegally as a visa overstay as she entered on a tourist visa in 2021 but violated the terms of it by never leaving. Complicated case though, as she later applied for asylum and Biden admin gave her a work permit/EAD (which isn’t legal status). But it’s one of those cases where someone has permission from the federal government to work in the US but has no lawful status in the US at the same time (yes, both those things can be true)… Immigration law will make your head spin,” Bill Melugin of Fox News reported.
“They knew I was a citizen. They knew she was my wife. And they knew several details that make it clear that this was not a coincidence but an operation directed at my wife,” Medina said at a news conference, seeming to suggest that the arrest was retaliation for her reporting.
There was reportedly no warrant for her arrest, and the complicated matter has moved to the courts with Medina sent to an ICE processing center in Louisiana to await possible deportation back to Columbia where she had reportedly received death threats.
“Up until now, she hasn’t had a case with ICE charging her with anything,” her attorney Joel Coxander said, according to WKRN. “There has been no case in immigration court.”
“So ICE sends out these letters to citizens who’ve never had any contact with [them],” Coxander told the Nashville Banner. “The letters just say, like, ‘Hey, please come by the ICE office.’”
“They’re invitations,” he insisted. “They don’t say they’re required. They say, ‘Come in so we can help ensure the best outcome for your case.’ They cite no legal requirement to come. And that’s because, for a lot of people, they have no connection to ICE, this isn’t connected with an application with USCIS — or at least it doesn’t say anything like that.”
The arrest infuriated leftists, including disgraced ex-CNN pest Jim Acosta, who demanded her release in a profane X post.
ICE must release Estafany now. She is a journalist with documentation to be in the U.S. #fuckice #fuckmiller https://t.co/yyGgn2gbqf
— Jim Acosta (@Acosta) March 7, 2026
Acosta, now a pathetic podcaster, then did a Hillary Clinton and turned off his replies.
Rodriguez had applied for a green card, but as a Department of Homeland Security (DHS) spokesperson told CNN. “A pending green card application and work authorization does NOT give someone legal status to be in our country.”
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