According to a recently introduced House bill, Ohio communities such as Cleveland risk losing a portion of their state funding if they refuse to comply with federal immigration enforcement directives.
House Bill 26, titled the Protecting Ohio Communities Act, “defunds sanctuary cities in the state of Ohio,” and penalizes them for refusing to cooperate with federal immigration officers, according to the bill’s sponsor, new House Majority Whip Josh Williams of Sylvania Township, R-44th.
To comply with the proposed framework, law enforcement officers in the state must be able to inquire about a person’s citizenship status during investigations and “immediately” report them to federal authorities if they have “reasonable cause to believe” they are in the country illegally.
It also penalizes governmental entities for establishing so-called “sanctuary” policies designed to protect undocumented migrants from federal immigration enforcement, and it requires those communities to demonstrate that they do not maintain any such policies.
The proposed rules are not mandates, according to Williams, but they do carry the threat of a penalty. If enacted, communities that do not comply risk losing 10% of their allotment from the state’s Local Government Fund, which is used for discretionary spending, according to Williams.
“We saw, just [last month], two of our major metropolitan mayors come out and publicly state they have sanctuary city policies in place,” according to FOX 8 News.
Cleveland Mayor Justin Bibb responded late last month to reports of increased US Immigration and Customs Enforcement operations in the area, saying:
I fully condemn the concentrated effort to threaten and terrify our most vulnerable populations. Immigrants are human beings. They have elevated our home by contributing their talents and cultures here. They support our economy. They attend our churches. They are our neighbors. Immigrants have been integral to our city’s story for generations.
…
My administration will not engage in the deportation of individuals who have not committed violent crimes. No law requires that we do so. Cleveland police are tasked with protecting public safety, and while we will take action against anybody who commits violent crimes, we are not enforcing general federal immigration law. Our police are not here to play politics or be used as a tool for fear.
Cleveland Mayor Justin Bibb
There are an estimated 11 million undocumented immigrants in the United States. President Donald Trump, who made immigration enforcement a cornerstone of his campaign, has claimed that the increased deportation effort is aimed at violent criminals who are in the country illegally.
Since January 23, ICE agents have arrested over 8,200 people, according to the agency’s social media posts.
This includes several individuals who were detained in the Geauga County Jail last month. Five other people arrested during an ICE raid at a local restaurant last month were released on bond on Tuesday.
Homeland Security is responsible for immigration enforcement, but state and local law enforcement agencies frequently collaborate with ICE, detaining people suspected of being in the country illegally at the federal government’s request and holding them in county-run jails for legal proceedings, according to Aleksandar Cuic, partner at Brown Immigration Law in Cleveland.
Cuic believes the new bill “kind of blurs the line of what local law enforcement’s duties are,” in comparison to the duties of ICE agents. He also believes the bill’s language could encourage racial profiling.
“The slippery slope is: Do we really want police to profile people based on their appearance and accent? “Police are supposed to profile based on their actions,” Cuic stated.
Although Cuyahoga County sheriff’s deputies frequently collaborate with local, state, and federal authorities, “immigration enforcement is not within the daily duties of the department, and sheriff’s deputies are not trained on federal immigration law,” according to county spokesperson Jennifer Ciaccia.
According to her, the Cuyahoga County jail does not typically house federal detainees or people detained because of their immigration status. In the last year, the jail did receive one undocumented immigrant who was arrested by another agency for reasons unrelated to their immigration status, she said.
According to Cuic, many communities receive funding from Homeland Security to assist with immigration enforcement. Under House Bill 26, communities that the attorney general determines are not in compliance will also lose funding.
When asked for comment on the new House bill, Bibb’s office reiterated that his administration will not assist in deporting immigrants who have not committed violent crimes.
“It’s important to point out that we will not be doing the federal government’s job for them,” the mayor’s spokesperson Tyler Sinclair told FOX 8 News. “We do not request that the federal government issue speeding tickets or fill potholes, nor should the federal government ask us to administer Social Security or, in this case, enforce general federal immigration law. “That is their responsibility, as the mayor stated earlier this week.”
Newly elected U.S. Sen. Bernie Moreno of Cleveland, R-Westlake, a Colombian immigrant, has threatened to withhold federal funds from sanctuary cities down to the penny, as well as “personal criminal liability” for anyone who obstructs federal deportation action, FOX 8 News reported this week.
Moreno reported that 19,000 people in Northeast Ohio have active deportation orders, including 4,000 convicted criminals.
Cleveland residents have called for the city to declare itself a sanctuary city, according to Ward 14 councilmember Jasmin Santana on Facebook. “We hear you and are looking into it,” she replied.
A spokesperson told FOX 8 News that her office is weighing the pros and cons to ensure the initiative benefits the city rather than harming it.
Sinclair stated that the mayor’s administration is “laser-focused on fighting violent crime” and intends to arrest perpetrators “regardless of their immigration status,” according to Sinclair.
“There, unfortunately, has been an intentional conflation between violent crimes and immigration status,” Sinclair wrote in her letter. “Threatening to pull key funds that our community relies on — a majority of which goes to our public safety forces — goes beyond a political game as it would have dire consequences for our residents and others across the state.”
Williams claims his bill is “one-thousand-percent” constitutionally sound and does not conflict with home rule. According to Williams, the state legislature, which controls Ohio’s budget, is only constitutionally required to distribute casino revenue and portions of the state income tax. “Everything else is good, free will.”
“They have the right to implement local policies such as this. “The state of Ohio will not subsidize those policies,” he said. “Do not misinterpret our good intentions as weakness. If you want to implement these policies, that’s fine—you fund it.”
If Cuyahoga County violated the law, it would result in a loss of approximately $2.4 million in local government funding, according to Ciaccia.
When asked how much Cleveland could lose if penalized under HB 26, Sinclair declined to provide an estimate.
The bill would also require government agencies that administer public benefits to verify recipients’ immigration status in order to determine whether non-citizens are eligible for benefits under federal welfare laws.
HB 26 was previously introduced as House Bill 666 in September of the 135th General Assembly. It was referred to the House State and Local Government Committee in November but never received a hearing.
House Bill 26 is currently before the House Public Safety Committee.
