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.

Nashville judge temporarily blocks immigration status checks in HIV/AIDS program
Tennessee

Nashville judge temporarily blocks immigration status checks in HIV/AIDS program

Oct 22, 2026
Anita Wadhwani
A Nashville judge temporarily blocked Tennessee health officials from requiring immigration status checks of HIV-positive individuals enrolled in a healthcare safety-net program. Chancellor I’Ashea L. Myles issued the temporary restraining order late Wednesday. The order prevents the Tennessee Department of...
Memphis City Council asks ICE, National Guard to leave 
Tennessee

Memphis City Council asks ICE, National Guard to leave 

Oct 21, 2026
Anita Wadhwani
The Memphis City Council on Tuesday voted in favor of a nonbinding resolution calling for the removal of Immigration and Customs Enforcement and the Tennessee National Guard from the city. The resolution drew dozens of speakers who urged its adoption...
Lawsuit: Tennessee to impose immigration checks in HIV/AIDS safety-net program
Tennessee

Lawsuit: Tennessee to impose immigration checks in HIV/AIDS safety-net program

Oct 20, 2026
Anita Wadhwani
In August, Tennessee organizations that aid low-income individuals living with HIV received a surprise memo from the state’s health department: “Effective immediately,” the memo said, “no patients without documentation of citizenship or legal residency may be newly enrolled” in many...
Attorney General touts success of Trump task force in Memphis
Tennessee

Attorney general touts success of Trump task force in Memphis

Oct 19, 2026
Anita Wadhwani
U.S. Attorney General Todd Blanche joined federal and state leaders in Tennessee on Friday to tout the record of the Memphis Safe Task Force a little more than one year after President Donald Trump first established the multi-agency crime-fighting force...
Losing bidder in I-24 toll lane project files suit seeking contract records
Tennessee

Losing bidder in I-24 toll lane project files suit seeking contract records

Oct 08, 2026
Anita Wadhwani
The losing bidder in a multi-billion-dollar project to add toll lanes to Interstate 24 between Nashville and Murfreesboro has filed suit seeking to force Tennessee transportation officials to hand over the winning bidder’s contract and payment records. 24 Choice Lane...
Judge dismisses Lutheran church challenge to Tennessee law making it a crime to harbor immigrants
Tennessee

Judge dismisses Lutheran church challenge to Tennessee law making it a crime to harbor immigrants

Oct 05, 2026
Anita Wadhwani
A Tennessee law that makes it a felony to “harbor” immigrants without legal status remains enforceable after a federal judge last week dismissed a legal challenge brought by Lutheran churches. The law defines human smuggling as intentionally concealing, harboring or...
Under Trump, immigration arrests and detentions surge in Tennessee
Tennessee

Under Trump, immigration arrests and detentions surge in Tennessee

Oct 05, 2026
Adam Friedman Anita Wadhwani
Since Donald Trump was sworn into office for a second time, immigration arrests have surged nationwide as his administration carries out an unprecedented mass detention and deportation agenda. In Tennessee, the number of people arrested and detained began to climb...
After botched execution of Christa Pike, Tennessee Corrections chief steps down
Tennessee

After botched execution of Christa Pike, Tennessee correction chief steps down

Oct 03, 2026
Anita Wadhwani
Tennessee Department of Correction Commissioner Frank Strada will step down, Gov. Bill Lee announced Saturday — three days after a botched execution attempt left Christa Pike on a ventilator in critical condition. Strada offered his resignation, and the governor accepted...
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 &...