Nashville is one of America's great cities, but it has a nutty sheriff who wants to steal some of Sheriff Joe's thunder. Daron Hall has been high profile enough that Immigrant's List posted him on it's top 10 list of shame. Here is their description of one particularly unsavory act by Sheriff Hall:
If you've had children, you'll never forget the day they were born: the look on their face, the sound of their cry, the weight of the infant in your arms. And if you're Juana Villegas, you'll remember the clink of your chains.
Juana is an undocumented immigrant who was 9 months pregnant when she was arrested for a traffic offense. Shortly after being detained, Juana went into labor. Sheriff Daron Hall forced her to be shackled during labor and denied a breast pump during postpartum recovery. On the witness stand in a lawsuit over her treatment, Villegas remembered that after delivery, she tried not to move much because the clink of the leg chains would disturb her sleeping newborn. For any parent, it's a heartless way to be treated. For any newborn, it's a tragic way to come into the world. But if you're an undocumented immigrant, Sheriff Daron Hall wouldn't have it any other way.
Now Sheriff Hall appears to be backing down somewhat. He's dropping Nashville's participation in the 287(g) program and instead opting for Secure Communities, a program that has garnered criticism, but not nearly as much as the 287(g) program.
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