Trump Cracks Down on Refugees in Nashville’s Little Kurdistan: New at Reason

Armed men pull Shevan Arif and his family over at a busy intersection, asking questions and demanding to see IDs. Bystander cellphone video captures Arif nervously shaking his head and pleading with the two men, who mill around and make phone calls. They aren’t local police, and they’re evasive when he asks if he’s under arrest. Eventually, they realize Arif isn’t the person they’re looking for, and drive off without explanation.

This would be a fairly ordinary—though still terrifying—encounter in much of the developing world. What’s remarkable is that it took place in Nashville, Tennessee, as part of a massive immigration sweep that began this June. And the targets are members of a persecuted community who thought they had found safety in America, writes Matthew Petti.

View this article.