What was supposed to be a routine immigration appointment at a Department of Homeland Security office in Nashville ended with 28-year-old Terez Metry on a deportation flight to Egypt, and her husband stuck back home in Antioch.
Metry says Immigration and Customs Enforcement detained her within minutes of the visit, which she and her husband, U.S. citizen Dominique Flemister, believed was a standard check-in on her immigration case. Friends and coworkers describe Metry as a Nashville-area dental assistant who had been working her way through the legal process toward a green card.
In an interview with the Nashville Banner, Metry said officials told the couple that their Form I-130 petition had been approved. Within minutes, she told the outlet, ICE agents separated the pair inside the Brick Church Pike DHS office and took her into custody.
According to Metry's account in the Banner, she was first transported to a Knox County jail, then transferred to a Louisiana processing center, and ultimately placed on a removal flight. The Banner reports that Metry said her commissary account and access to basic supplies were limited while she was detained.
Where She Was Held
Metry says she was housed at the South Louisiana ICE Processing Center in Basile, Louisiana, a facility listed on ICE detention-facilities pages. Human-rights reporting and detention monitors have raised concerns about overcrowding and conditions at the Basile site, noting inspections and complaints in recent years.
According to ICE and the Global Detention Project, the facility has been used to house ICE detainees.
On The Flight To Egypt
Metry told the Nashville Banner that the deportation flight she was placed on carried dozens of other people. She estimated that there were 36 Egyptian men, 20 Russian men and three Russian women on board, and that she was returned to Egypt on that plane.
While in detention, Metry said she performed library work. She told the Banner she hopes to return to the United States in two or three years.
Family Reaction And Legal Steps
Flemister says the arrest came as a shock. He had filed the sponsorship petition for his wife in late 2022, and the couple had married in Nashville. Friends have organized a fundraiser to cover legal costs, and local television reporting notes that Metry has no criminal record and has worked as a dental assistant in the Nashville area.
As reported by NewsChannel5, Metry's attorney says he is seeking emergency relief. A community fundraiser is online at GoFundMe.
Legal Context
Advocates and immigration attorneys say Metry's account fits a wider pattern they have observed in recent enforcement operations. An internal Department of Homeland Security document obtained by CBS News shows that fewer than 14 percent of nearly 400,000 people arrested by ICE last year had charges or convictions for violent crimes, a statistic civil-rights groups point to when criticizing broad arrest practices.
Rights organizations have also flagged conditions at Louisiana detention sites as part of that scrutiny, including reporting and outreach by RFK Human Rights.
Back in Antioch, Metry's case has reignited debate over how immigration enforcement is carried out when people are actively pursuing legal status. Supporters say they plan to keep pressing lawyers and elected officials for answers as legal challenges continue.
