Anita Wadhwani

Anita Wadhwani

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Anita Wadhwani is a senior reporter for The Tennessee Lookout. The Tennessee AP Broadcasters and Media (TAPME) named her Journalist of the Year in 2019 as well as giving her the Malcolm Law Award for Investigative Journalism. Wadhwani is formerly an investigative reporter with The Tennessean who focused on the impact of public policies on the people and place across Tennessee. She is a graduate of Columbia University in New York and the University of California at Berkeley School of Journalism. Wadhwani lives in Nashville with her partner and two children.

Nursing Nashville mom reunited with kids 3 months after ICE arrest
Tennessee

Nursing Nashville mom reunited with kids 3 months after ICE arrest

Oct 01, 2026
Anita Wadhwani
By the time she was released from a Louisiana immigrant detention center, a Nashville mother of two could no longer breastfeed her young daughters. Her milk had dried up. An asylum seeker from Guatemala, she had not seen or spoken...
After weeks of limbo, federal government now distributing COVID vaccines to low-income kids
Tennessee

After weeks of limbo, federal government now distributing COVID vaccines to low-income kids

Sep 30, 2026
Anita Wadhwani
The federal government has begun supplying COVID-19 vaccines to states, including Tennessee, to be used as part of a free immunization program for low-income children, a spokesperson for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services confirmed Tuesday. The question...
Planned Parenthood files legal challenge to investigation, document demands by Tennessee AG
Tennessee

Planned Parenthood files legal challenge to investigation, document demands by Tennessee AG

Sep 25, 2026
Anita Wadhwani
Planned Parenthood of Tennessee and North Mississippi petitioned a Nashville court on Wednesday to set aside a sweeping legal demand by Tennessee Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti to turn over the organization’s donor details, healthcare provider information and the medical records...
Federal judge denies request to block TN Highway Patrol traffic stops conducted in tandem with ICE
Tennessee

Federal judge denies request to block TN Highway Patrol traffic stops conducted in tandem with ICE

Sep 23, 2026
Anita Wadhwani
A federal judge on Wednesday denied a request for a preliminary injunction that would prevent the Tennessee Highway Patrol from conducting pretextual traffic stops in tandem with federal immigration agents. U.S. District Judge Aleta Trauger ruled the Tennessee Immigrant &...
Immigrant advocates seek immediate halt to THP traffic stops conducted in tandem with ICE
Tennessee

Immigrant advocates seek immediate halt to highway patrol traffic stops conducted in tandem with ICE

Sep 23, 2026
Anita Wadhwani
Immigrant advocates went to federal court Tuesday seeking an immediate order blocking the Tennessee Highway Patrol from conducting traffic stops in tandem with federal immigration agents. In its federal lawsuit, the Tennessee Immigrant & Refugee Rights Coalition and seven Tennessee...
COVID vaccines for uninsured Tennessee kids in limbo amid federal delays
Tennessee

COVID vaccines for uninsured Tennessee kids in limbo amid federal delays

Sep 22, 2026
Anita Wadhwani
The federal government has yet to release information on when — or whether — it will continue to provide COVID-19 vaccines to low-income children through a free immunization program, raising alarms among some Tennessee health providers ahead of this Fall’s...
Residents push back against planned Nashville ICE coordination center
Tennessee

Residents push back against planned Nashville ICE coordination center

Sep 16, 2026
Anita Wadhwani
Dozens of residents packed the Nashville Metro Council on Tuesday to speak against plans to establish a national immigration enforcement support center in Nashville. One after another, Nashville residents took to the podium during the meeting’s public comment period to...
Tennessee families must earn 85%-164% more than federal poverty limit to get by, new study finds
Tennessee

Tennessee families must earn 85%-164% more than federal poverty limit to get by, new study finds

Sep 15, 2026
Anita Wadhwani
The income a Tennessee family needs to pay for necessities such as food, housing and childcare far surpassed the federal poverty threshold, according to an analysis by The Sycamore Institute, a nonpartisan think tank. The analysis found that basic necessities...
Federal judge dismisses claims ICE detained Nashville journalist in retaliation for her reporting
Tennessee

Federal judge dismisses claims ICE detained Nashville journalist in retaliation for her reporting

Sep 11, 2026
Anita Wadhwani
A federal judge has dismissed a petition by a Nashville Spanish-language news reporter that alleged her detention by federal immigration agents this year was an unconstitutional retaliation for her critical reporting on immigration raids. Estefany Rodriguez, a reporter for Nashville...
Immigrant advocates highlight Tennessee role in Trump administration’s mass deportation plans
Tennessee

Immigrant advocates highlight Tennessee role in Trump administration’s mass deportation plans

Sep 04, 2026
Anita Wadhwani
During the early hours of Sunday morning, legal advocates with the Tennessee Immigrant & Refugee Rights Coalition awakened to buzzing cellphones. More than 120 men and women had been rounded up by immigration agents inside the Memphis nightclub, El Corralón...
Homeland Security confirms 121 immigrant arrests in Memphis nightclub raid
Tennessee

Homeland Security confirms 121 immigrant arrests in Memphis nightclub raid

Sep 02, 2026
Anita Wadhwani
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents arrested 121 immigrants during a raid on the El Corralón nightclub in Memphis during the early hours of Sunday morning, according to a news release Tuesday by the Department of Homeland Security. The release...
Some Memphis businesses push back against Memphis Safe Task Force 
Tennessee

Some Memphis businesses push back against Memphis Safe Task Force 

Sep 01, 2026
Anita Wadhwani
More than 50 Memphis businesses have signed onto a public pledge to deny service to members of the Memphis Safe Task Force, citing a pattern of widespread intimidation by its agents that have kept workers and customers away. The pledge...