CINCINNATI — Amid an immigration crackdown happening nationwide, Cincinnati city leaders are taking a closer look at how the city would handle any raids conducted by ICE, and whether any city agencies would be involved.
Cincinnati Police Chief Teresa Theetge said CPD isn't here to enforce anyone's immigration status — but they will comply with federal orders and they will help in any investigation involving a person with a criminal warrant filed for them.
"If they are here and it's an individual who has, say, a criminal warrant on them, maybe they're wanted for a murder, rape or something to that effect, and ICE needs our assistance in apprehending that individual, we would assist with that," said Theetge.
You can watch our interview with Theetge and Pureval here:
Although ICE has conducted raids and arrests in cities throughout the US, including the Cleveland area, no such raids have happened yet anywhere in the Greater Cincinnati or Tri-State region.
"ICE hasn't reached out to us, ICE hasn't had contact with the chief in her time with that capacity," said Mayor Aftab Pureval.
But Pureval added that ICE has no obligation to alert Cincinnati officials to any raids before they happen.
"What we want folks to understand is of course the chief and I are going to follow the law," said Pureval.
He and Theetge said they're working together to make sure all city departments are on the same page, including sending messages to Cincinnati officers and the migrant community calling Cincinnati home.
"We have an immigrant liaison officer, Officer Anthony Johnson, he is still a resource for the immigrant population as we try to navigate all of this," said Theetge.
As far as county law enforcement is concerned, Hamilton County Sheriff Charmaine McGuffey said it's important that all members of the public — including immigrants and refugees — can communicate freely with law enforcement without fear.
"Now that the Trump Administration is in office, we will work with federal agencies to understand what new laws and directives will be enforced in Hamilton County," reads a statement sent to us from McGuffey. "I am and will always be a sheriff who enforces law and order and I am also a sheriff who is an advocate for human rights."
The Cincinnati Fraternal Order of Police weighs in
The Cincinnati FOP took issue with Mayor Aftab Pureval's stance on how local law enforcement assists — or doesn't assist — any ICE raids that could happen in Cincinnati.
FOP President Ken Kober issued a statement on social media Thursday.
"Police officers take an oath to defend the Constitution of both Ohio and the United States," Kober's statement reads. "It's terrible that a mayor can adopt a policy requiring those law enforcement officers to violate that oath."
The statement goes on to say that Cincinnati police officers aren't responsible for investigating or enforcing federal crimes like illegal immigration, but officers work on task forces where their duties do overlap with federal investigations and crimes.
For example, Cincinnati officers may investigate and arrest someone accused of a crime within their jurisdiction and later learn that person was in the country illegally.
City council searching for options, solutions
Cincinnati Vice Mayor Jan-Michele Lemon Kearney also filed two motions to city council Tuesday requesting reports on how the city is currently supporting immigrant communities.
The motion lays out four suggestions of ways the city can provide information and resources:
- Create a "Know Your Rights" reference in multiple languages including but not limited to Spanish and English on the city's website to help immigrant families.
- Create a link on the city's website to Compass and other resource groups.
- Create a Hispanic Employee Resource Group to meet monthly and address ways to increase Hispanic representation across all departments.
- Create information on the city's website about anti-bullying programs in schools as well as the process for reporting and addressing hate crimes.
Kearney requested a report on the above topics within 90 days.
Kearney is also requesting a report within 60 days on what resources and mechanisms are in place for the public to report hate crimes, including the existence of any hate crime hotline, whether any collected data is available to the public and what policies are in place for reporting data on hate crimes.
"Cincinnati is a sanctuary city, yet members of our immigrant communities are living in fear of leaving their homes, taking their children to school and attending their places of worship," reads the statement by Kearney attached to the motion. "The goal of this motion is to see what protections for our residents and resources we already have in place and what is needed."
The motion was referred to the Healthy Neighborhoods Committee, which is scheduled to next meet on February 4, though an agenda for that meeting has not been publicly released yet.
Watch the full conversation we had with Theetge and Pureval below:
This is a familiar battle in Cincinnati
In 2017, city council — comprised of a completely different group of people under a different mayor — declared Cincinnati a "sanctuary city," a status which hasn't been officially disputed since.
The 2017 resolution, passed by a 6-2 vote, expresses officials' desire "to be a welcoming and inclusive city for all immigrants to live, work or visit." The resolution was introduced by then-council member Wendell Young — but then-Mayor John Cranley also declared days earlier that Cincinnati "has been for years, and will remain, a 'sanctuary city.'"
There is not a single definition for “sanctuary city," which is why the term is typically written with quotations. It is a instead a colloquial term used by politicians and law enforcement officials to describe areas that do not fully adhere to Immigration and Customs Enforcement requests for the areas — counties, municipalities or states — to hold and turn-over a person suspected of being an undocumented immigrant. “Sanctuary jurisdiction” probably would be a better catchall term.
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