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.

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...
Report: 12 Tennessee rural hospitals at ‘immediate risk’ for closure
Tennessee

Report: 12 Tennessee rural hospitals at ‘immediate risk’ for closure

Aug 17, 2026
Anita Wadhwani
A dozen small, rural Tennessee hospitals are at “immediate risk” for closure, potentially exacerbating a longstanding problem in a state with one of the highest hospital closure rates in the nation. The calculation, by The Center for Healthcare Quality and...
Local officials in the dark about contract naming Adams as ICE call center site 
Tennessee

Local officials in the dark about contract naming Adams as ICE call center site 

Aug 14, 2026
Anita Wadhwani
Local officials on Thursday were still seeking information about a multi-million-dollar government contract with an Alaska-based corporation designating Adams, Tennessee as the location of a national immigration enforcement call center. A summary document posted on the federal government’s contract website...
Report: Trump mass deportation policies cost Tennessee taxpayers $1,961 apiece
Tennessee

Report: Trump mass deportation policies cost Tennessee taxpayers $1,961 apiece

Aug 13, 2026
Anita Wadhwani
Tennessee taxpayers are paying about $1,961 each to fund the Trump administration’s mass deportation policies, according to an analysis of the federal budget released by the Economic Policy Institute. The think tank developed an online tool that calculates the average...
Federal contract documents show ICE 24-hour call center planned for Adams, Tennessee
Tennessee

Federal contract documents show ICE 24-hour call center planned for Adams, Tennessee

Aug 11, 2026
Anita Wadhwani
The Department of Homeland Security has awarded a $63 million contract to an Alaska corporation to operate a national immigration enforcement call center in rural Tennessee, a federal contract database shows. The city of Adams, a Robertson County town of...
At CoreCivic, immigration crackdowns are good for business
Tennessee

At CoreCivic, immigration crackdowns are good for business

Aug 10, 2026
Anita Wadhwani
Revenue grew more than 27% for private prison operator CoreCivic as the Tennessee company profited from contracts with Immigration and Customs Enforcement that support the Trump administration’s mass detention and deportation agenda, according to a shareholders’ report released last week...
At least 3 school districts vote to display Ten Commandments allowed by new Tennessee law
Tennessee

At least 3 school districts vote to display Ten Commandments allowed by new Tennessee law

Aug 06, 2026
Anita Wadhwani
A northeast Tennessee school board this week became at least the third in the state to approve the display of the Ten Commandments in its public schools since a new GOP-backed law giving districts the option took effect July 1...
Memphis advocates call on private airport to stop servicing ICE detention flights
Tennessee

Memphis advocates call on private airport to stop servicing ICE detention flights

Aug 05, 2026
Anita Wadhwani
Memphis advocates on Tuesday called on a privately-run aviation company to stop servicing flights that transport detained immigrants out of the state. Volunteers with Vecindarios 901, a Memphis mutual aid organization that coordinates a “rapid response” network to help immigrants...
Attorneys for pardoned abortion clinic protestor announce 7-figure settlement with DOJ
Tennessee

Attorneys for pardoned abortion clinic protester announce 7-figure settlement with DOJ

Aug 03, 2026
Anita Wadhwani
Anti-abortion activist Paul Vaughn was convicted in 2024 on a felony charge of conspiring to prevent access to a Mt. Juliet reproductive clinic, then pardoned the following year by President Donald Trump just days after he retook office for a...