Hagerty Rails Against Migrant ‘Invasion’ After Trip to Southern Border

Republican U.S. Sen. Bill Hagerty defended his decision to vote no on a bipartisan border bill in a press conference Wednesday. The Nashville event followed Hagerty’s recent trip to the U.S.-Mexico border with several Tennessee law enforcement officials and mayors.

Among those joining Hagerty in Eagle Pass, Texas, and again Wednesday included Wilson County Sheriff Robert Bryan, Sullivan County Sheriff Jeff Cassidy, Hamilton County Sheriff Austin Garrett, Knox County Mayor Glenn Jacobs, Carter County Mayor Patty Woodby and 12th Judicial District Attorney General Courtney Lynch. The trip came days after Hagerty joined fellow U.S. Sen. Marsha Blackburn in voting against a bipartisan border bill that could have radically changed border security and immigration policy — a bill that former President Donald Trump pushed GOP lawmakers to vote against. Also in February, Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee traveled to the border alongside several other GOP governors to call for “immediate action.” 

When asked whether their opinions on the border crisis had been influenced by the trip, the local law enforcement and government officials said their views on the issue had in fact been reinforced.

“It's definitely strengthened our opinion,” said Sullivan County Sheriff Cassidy on Wednesday. “We've already seen the funneling of fentanyl and drugs and cartels, gangs, and just to be on that border, feet on the ground, it strengthened what we already knew.”

“I'm tired of getting calls every day about somebody overdosing on fentanyl, and it's sad,” Wilson County Sheriff Bryan added. “It's strengthened my concerns about what's going on there, and this fentanyl is coming across into Tennessee and it's killing our citizens, and I'm not good with that.” 

Hagerty defended his vote against the border bill, telling reporters he “wanted to take action” but he and his fellow members of the Senate “were not allowed to amend that bill.” The majority of Senate Republicans argued that the legislation didn't go far enough to secure the border.

“What we have is an administration that has demonstrated they are unwilling to basically follow the law,” said Hagerty. “You're looking at the way they used executive orders, and they do not follow the law that's on the books right now. What we needed to do was put in place a lock-tight, rock-solid requirement that the Biden administration enforced the wall — that was not present.”

Addressing the ‘Invasion’

On Feb. 17, members of the neo-Nazi group Blood Tribe marched through downtown Nashville in a display that caught the attention of local and national media. The group carried swastika flags and chanted statements including, “Deport all Mexicans.” The event drew condemnation from Tennessee officials including Nashville Mayor Freddie O'Connell and Gov. Lee, as well as a resolution from the Metro Council condemning the rally. 

This was not the first time Nazis or other extremist groups have made their presence known in Tennessee, the home state of the Ku Klux Klan. Extremists showed up in Franklin, Murfreesboro and Cookeville in 2023, with far-right hate group the Proud Boys playing security at a 2022 right-wing rally against transgender health care in Nashville. That event featured numerous Republican lawmakers and Daily Wire commentator Matt Walsh.

When asked how concerned he was that his rhetoric — including his repeated use of the word “invasion” to describe the humanitarian crisis at the border — could inspire or encourage extremist movements, Hagerty grew combative. 

“To correlate my language with some extremist group is wrong, it's off-base, and I'm not going to further answer this,” Hagerty said. 

Reporters on Wednesday continued to press Hagerty. After being asked four times if he denounced the neo-Nazi group, Tennessee’s junior U.S. senator eventually admitted he did, though he added, “I don't even know who you're talking about” in reference to Blood Tribe.

“I denounce any group that wants to promote violence in the United States,” said Hagerty. “I denounce the terrorists that are coming across our border right now — I have a feeling something very bad is gonna happen there. … What you're trying to do with this correlation, I think, is absolutely ridiculous.”

While Hagerty may not publicly acknowledge the correlation of the decades-long border debate and the decades-long rise of right-wing extremism, he need look no further than Montgomery County. Earlier this month, the FBI arrested and seized firearms and explosives from a Tennessee man who was allegedly planning to “travel to the border to target migrants entering the United States.”

See footage from Wednesday's press conference below.