CINCINNATI — Immigration advocates told local officials Tuesday many in the community — including those living here legally — are living in fear.
"The past two weeks have been hell in our world because a lot of immigrants were afraid to send their children to school," immigration attorney Nazly Mamedova said during a city council committee meeting.
Mayra Casas Jackson with the Immigrant and Refugee Law Center gave a presentation to city council called "Know Your Rights," which focused on educating immigrants here both legally and illegally about what they have the right to if they encounter an officer from the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).
Part of her presentation showed what a real court order looks like, what it will say, the names and addresses, as well as a judge's signature. One of the other slides showed a warrant of removal/deportation, which said, "an immigration order does not give the officer permission to enter your home ... but ICE is likely to search for you in a public place with this type of order."
"These documents don't allow any ICE officers or law enforcement to go into their houses," said Jackson.
"To me, this is a moral question versus a legal question," another advocate, Don Driehaus, said during the meeting. "These are neighbors who support our businesses, whose children attend our schools, and who also attend churches."
Rosmery Ventura, a member of the East Price Hill Community Council, also spoke during Tuesday's meeting. A child of Guatemalan immigrants, Ventura said her parents arrived in the U.S. in the late 1990s, not knowing English or anyone in the country.
She said they went from working in food trucks to owning their grocery store. We asked her if her community feels like they're being targeted by the Trump Administration and ICE.
"100%, 100% everybody is just scared," said Ventura.
She also had a plea for the critics to understand the perspective of immigrants, and to try to find compassion in their hearts.
"We never know what situation somebody is going through until we're in their shoes, sometimes some of us don't have the full reality of what is going on in the world, so that's why we're very selfish," said Ventura.
Nancy Sullivan with Transformations CDC noted how important immigrants like Ventura's parents are to Cincinnati.
"Big companies are afraid that they will be raided," Sullivan said. "If suddenly the immigrants living in the Price Hill area and Westwood would disappear the economy would tank."
Council member Scotty Johnson also urged care and compassion after Tuesday's presentations.
"All laws are not good laws, there were Jim Crow laws that caused my parents and grandparents a life of heartache and pain to be dehumanized and disrespected," said Johnson. "I don't want to allow the law to act as a crutch for inhumanity."
The Immigrant & Refugee Law Center is urging all immigrants to contact them if they need help or have any questions. Lawyers at IRLC can be reached at 513-828-0577.
Watch our story on the presentations below:
