May 10 (UPI) — Immigration and Customs Enforcement has arrested at least 103 for alleged immigration violations during traffic stops in and near Nashville, which prompted the city’s mayor to challenge the enforcement effort.

ICE says the arrests are part of a “public safety operation,” but Nashville Mayor Freddie O’Connell questions the legality of the enforcement effort, WKRN reported.

“The U.S. Department of Homeland Security says they’ve arrested people with criminal histories or criminal intent this week,” O’Connell told media on Friday, “but they have shown us no proof.”

O’Connell has asked ICE officials to release the names and charges against the 103 people currently in custody.

“We don’t even know the names of who they’ve arrested, much less the charges,” O’Connell said. “What we have seen is a violation of due process and the defiance of court orders.”

O’Connell on Friday told media the Metro Nashville Police Department continues to cooperate with the state highway patrol but does not participate in the ICE enforcement effort.

Nashville Legal Director Wallace Dietz said city officials are powerless to stop or otherwise interfere with the ICE operation.

Instead, they are “looking into” how city officials might announce a pending federal immigration enforcement activity before it occurs.

“We have absolutely no authority to instruct ICE not to carry out their enforcement actions,” Dietz said. “We have no authority to tell [Tennessee Highway Patrol]they cannot cooperate with ICE.”

The THP and the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation are participating in the ICE enforcement effort by stopping motorists for moving violations and allowing ICE agents to detain those who might not have legal status in the United States.

The stops have resulted in the arrests of at least 103 individuals, including suspected members of the Venezuelan Tren de Aragua and the El Salvadoran MS-13 transnational gangs and their affiliate organizations, WZTV reported.

The enforcement activity began Sunday and is occurring in several counties in the mid-Tennessee area.

At least 588 traffic stops for hazardous moving violations, driving under the influence and other causes have been made as part of the enforcement activity.

The stops resulted in one felony charge for evading arrest, three drug-related arrests and the detention of six people who have warrants for alleged felony offenses.

Among those arrested are an alleged member of the Venezuelan Tren de Aragua gang and an “undocumented migrant” who had been convicted as a child sex predator. It is not clear if the conviction was in the United States or another nation.

An alleged MS-13 member who is wanted for aggravated murder in El Salvador also is among the 103 “undocumented migrants” who have been detained during the weeklong ICE operation.