Columbus, Ohio Just Became One of the Most Pro-Immigrant Cities in America
What can a committed group of concerned individuals do to resist Donald Trump? Turns out a whole hell of a lot.
Today, Mayor Ginther, President of the City Council, Zach Klein, and Councilwomen Elizabeth Brown announced plans to ensure that all residents of Columbus feel safe in their city, despite the chaotic and unconstitutional policy proposals coming out of Trump’s White House.
Today’s announcement is a major win for the entire city of Columbus, and we should all celebrate the leadership shown today by our city officials.
But today’s victory also shows that when Columbus stands united, we are powerful.
Today’s Announcement Was Months in the Making
After the election, community members in Columbus began to organize. Activist across the city joined together and formed the Columbus United March. Concerned citizens launched petitions calling for the city to provide sanctuary to immigrants from Donald Trump’s deportation force. Undocumented immigrants impacted by Donald Trump’s deportation agenda spoke with cities leaders. Service providers organized through community meetings. And when Donald Trump was sworn into office last week, Columbus was ready.
Today, the City of Columbus to two giant steps forward in the fight against Donald Trump’s attacks on immigrants and refugees. First, under the leadership of Councilwoman Liz Brown, the city took a strong stand for immigrant and refugee neighbors through the creation of a legal defense for immigrants targeted by Trump.
As the Dispatch first reported, the Council plans to create “a legal defense fund to help refugees and immigrants in central Ohio fight cases brought about by executive orders President Donald Trump signed last week.”
As we saw in airports across the country this weekend, Donald Trump’s first attempt at crafting national security policies turned out to be a complete and utter failure. Within the first 24 hours of the chaotic rollout, many immigrants and refugees found themselves illegally targeted by Customs and Border Patrol.
If this weekend is any indicator, Trump’s immigration actions will undoubtedly lead to illegal and unconstitutional actions by the federal government. The funds established through public and private sources, under the leadership of Councilwoman Elizabeth Brown, will shield immigrants and refugees from Trump’s chaotic and unconstitutional assaults.
This announcement alone would have been a major victory, but there was more. In a surprise announcement just a few hours later, Mayor Ginther held a press conference to announce strong community policing policies effectively preventing local law enforcement from participating in Trump’s Deportation Force.
“We will not arrest, detain, or investigate anyone for immigration violations unless a warrant or criminal violation was observed. No city employee or city office may be used for the sole purpose of detecting or apprehending people based on immigration status unless it is in response to a court order. Finally, we will offer the same city services to immigrants and refugees that we offer to all residents.”
Watch the video here:
So today we celebrate. Wins like this don’t happen often. It took the commitment of every person that march in the streets (and airport), called city council, or signed an online petition.
And tomorrow we continue the fight. We will ensure that city leaders create a timeline for implementation and we will hold them accountable to their promises.
So what’s next?
Donald Trump’s Deportation force will still carry out deportations in the City of Columbus. Today’s announcements simply mean that local law enforcement will not take part in Trump’s Deportation Force and our city officials are committed to helping immigrants wrongfully targeted who don’t have access to public defenders, fight their case.
So what are the next steps? Where do we go from here? These are my suggestions.
- Be sure to attend the Sanctuary For Immigrants 101 teach-in hosted by Austin Kocher and the Central Ohio Workers Center. Now more than ever, the community of Columbus needs to understand the benefits of pro-immigrant policing polices.
- Join the Columbus Stands With Immigrants Facebook group. We have momentum. Let’s use it. Joining the Facebook page is the easiest way to get involved.
- Join the Deportation Defense Directory. If you are willing to protect the immigrant community here in Columbus against Donald Trump’s deportation force, let us know.
Make no mistake about it, Donald Trump intends to deport most of the 11 million immigrant living in the United States without paperwork. So the next chapter in our fight will be to stop needless deportations one at a time. It’s tough work, but we’re organized now like never before.
Trump is making sweeping, foundational changes to domestic and taking a sledgehammer to the Statue of Liberty. But advocates here in Columbus are ready to respond. We are creating a directory of services available to the community so that immigrants and refugees can quickly access the resources they need.
I believe that if advocates and service providers respond quickly to deportations in Columbus, we will be able to make sure immigrants here have access to the legal, financial, and community support they need to fight their deportation.
