The IPI global network today expresses alarm over the arrest of Nashville Noticias journalist Estefany Rodríguez by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents and calls for her immediate release.
Rodríguez, who works for Nashville Noticias, a local Spanish-language news outlet, was arrested on March 4 while traveling in a vehicle marked with Nashville Noticias’ logo after she and her husband dropped their daughter off at her school bus stop. According to Rodríguez’s attorney, at the time of her arrest, agents did not present an official warrant.
Rodríguez is a legal U.S. resident and Colombian citizen. She fled Colombia five years ago after she began receiving death threats related to her reporting on organized crime and has pending green card and political asylum applications in the United States, according to the National Association of Hispanic Journalists (NAHJ).
The Department of Homeland Security has disputed Rodríguez’s legal status, while court filings on behalf of ICE allege that she had missed two appointments at a local ICE field office. Her lawyers have disputed this claim, saying the first appointment was rescheduled due to a local storm, while the second appointment was scheduled for March 17.
Rodríguez has covered health, family, social and police issues for Nashville Noticias since she began working for the outlet in 2022. More recently, much of her reporting has focused on local ICE activity, as the Trump administration ramps up immigration enforcement activities across the country. Her latest report on the arrest of four people by ICE officers was dated the day before her arrest.
According to court filings, Rodríguez’s legal team has said there are indications that she may have been targeted for her journalistic work. Her husband has also said he believes her reporting could have been a motive for her arrest.
In a statement, Nashville Noticias called for Rodríguez’s release and reunion with her young daughter and husband.
“The arrest of Estefany Rodríguez is a shocking escalation of legal action against journalists in the United States who have engaged in independent reporting on the activities of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement,” said the Executive Committee of the IPI North American Committee.
“In preventing Estefany from doing her job, authorities are infringing on the American people’s right to know what their government is doing. The IPI North American Committee stands in solidarity with Estefany and all journalists unjustly targeted for their work and calls for her immediate release.”
Rodríguez’s detention comes after the arrests of journalists Don Lemon and Georgia Fort earlier this year following their coverage of an anti-immigration enforcement protest in a Minnesota church on January 18. It also comes months after Mario Guevara, a Salvadoran journalist residing in the U.S., was arrested and deported after he live-streamed a local protest.