People disappear from Clairmont Apartments

The Clairmont Apartments

No one knows how many people disappeared from the Clairmont Apartments in Nashville on October 20.

The ACLU told The Tennessean that it was somewhere between 20 and 40 people.

Local law enforcement - Metro Nashville Police - said that it was "several" people, identifying three by name, and that they were all taken by the federal government agency ICE. Metro actually gives a lot of detail in its statement, but still no specifics about how many people were taken, what their names are, and if they were charged with a crime.

ICE issued a statement, but without any details about the missing. Its spokesman Temple Black has not yet responded to an inquiry by HispanicNashville.com

TIRRC and the ACLU say that apartment management could be retailiating for residents' complaints about the alleged living conditions:

Management has routinely ignored tenants' complaints about chronic maintenance problems, water leaks, lack of essential services, mold problems and widespread pest infestation. Several buildings have had limited or no water supply and no heat for months. Three weeks ago, Greystar abandoned the onsite management office, posting a sign to call a number that, when dialed, rang inside the empty office. Calls placed weeks ago remain unreturned.

If any criminal charges are ever brought against those taken from the Clairmont Apartments, the concerns would still include (1) was ICE looking for only a handful of people but end up taking away twenty or more bystanders; (2) in the process, did ICE violate a million or so required procedures; and (3) was the entire event initiated by an absentee landlord tired of dealing with complaints about living conditions?

By way of background, The Nashville Scene investigated alleged landlord misconduct against Hispanic residents in the exact same complex - in 1999. It was under a different name, owners, and management then.

No charges have been filed against Clairmont owners or management.