Faith communities have always been places of refuge—spaces where the vulnerable find safety, the stranger finds welcome, and the marginalized find community. The surveillance infrastructure in this MOU threatens that sacred role.
"When a stranger sojourns with you in your land, you shall not do him wrong. You shall treat the stranger who sojourns with you as the native among you, and you shall love him as yourself."
— Leviticus 19:33-34
The question before Nashville isn't just about technology or funding. It's about what kind of city we want to be—and whether we will allow surveillance infrastructure that targets the very people our faith traditions call us to protect.
Many people in our congregations could be harmed by this surveillance infrastructure. As faith leaders, we have a responsibility to understand who is at risk.
The MOU includes Fivecast—the same AI surveillance tool that ICE (~$4.2M contract) and CBP (~$3.4M contract) use for immigration enforcement. The platform maps social networks, including family connections and community ties. There are no restrictions on sharing data with federal agencies.
Fivecast monitors social media for "sentiment and emotion" and flags content matching "radicalization" patterns. Congregants involved in advocacy—for housing justice, immigrant rights, racial equity—could be flagged by automated systems.
The Downtown Partnership's territory includes areas where unhoused neighbors spend time. Surveillance infrastructure and mobile command posts could be used for enforcement against people your congregation may serve through outreach ministries.
Network mapping technology tracks relationships across platforms. If your congregation participates in coalitions or community organizing, those connections become visible—compromising not just individuals but entire networks of care. LeoSight—the Fusus replacement in this MOU—adds physical surveillance: cameras, license plate readers, and drones all feeding into one command platform.
Our faith traditions teach us to see every person as worthy of dignity and protection—especially the vulnerable, the stranger, the marginalized. Surveillance systems that target immigrants, monitor advocates, and track the movements of the poor stand in direct opposition to this calling.
This MOU transfers surveillance infrastructure to a private nonprofit with no public accountability. The powerful—property owners, business interests—gain tools of control. The powerless—immigrants, the unhoused, organizers—become targets. Our tradition calls us to stand with the powerless.
Throughout history, faith communities have provided sanctuary—not just physical shelter, but protection from persecution. Surveillance infrastructure that maps relationships, tracks movements, and shares data with federal agencies undermines the very concept of sanctuary.
We all want safe communities. But safety built on surveillance of the vulnerable isn't true safety—it's control masquerading as protection. Our tradition calls us to build communities of trust, not systems of suspicion.
Nashville's faith communities have a proud history of standing up for justice and protecting the vulnerable. This MOU asks us to betray that legacy.
Nashville's churches were central to the civil rights movement—hosting organizing meetings, training activists, providing sanctuary. FBI surveillance targeted these same churches. The tools have changed; the pattern hasn't.
When the 287(g) program threatened immigrant families, Nashville's faith communities organized accompaniment programs, provided legal support, and advocated for the agreement's end. That program was not renewed in 2012.
Faith leaders joined the coalition that fought Fusus for three years. Through testimony, organizing, and persistent advocacy, that surveillance system was finally abandoned in April 2025. Now it's back as LeoSight—founded in March 2025 by Fusus's former Chief Revenue Officer, with the same technology under a new name. It's already in this MOU.
The Council votes January 20. Council deferred the MOU twice in December, and now the Mayor filed four resolutions to bypass that process entirely. Faith communities can make a powerful witness against these surveillance resolutions.
"Learn to do good; seek justice, correct oppression; bring justice to the fatherless, plead the widow's cause."
— Isaiah 1:17
Our faith calls us to protect the vulnerable, welcome the stranger, and speak truth to power.
This is that moment.
Nashville's faith communities have always been on the side of justice. Contact your council member before January 20 and make your voice heard.
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