PAINSVILLE, Ohio — Across Ohio, communities are preparing as rumors circulate about Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) raids taking place. Adding to the stress is the fact that President Trump removed restrictions preventing officers from entering sensitive areas, such as schools, hospitals, and places of worship.
In Painesville, about a third of the population is Hispanic, which is the population that Veronica Isabel Dahleberg, the executive director of Hola Ohio, says is on alert for ICE officers.
“It's not just watching a vehicle drive by, but now people have the question like, are they coming for me? Are they going to pick me up and take me away from my family?"
Veronica told News 5 that ICE raids are nothing new to the community, but they haven't heard of any taking place recently.
“We always get calls when people are detained, and we've not received one,” said Veronica.
While in Cleveland Heights over the weekend at Cilantro Taqueria, News 5 reported that ICE detained six individuals and took them to the Geauga County Safety Center. The Chief Deputy there says he hasn't seen any unusual increase in ICE detainees.
“So, typically for the past year, year and a half, we've, on average, a daily inmate from or a detainee from ice has been between 50 and 60 individuals,” said Geauga County Sheriff's Office Chief Deputy Thomas Rowan.
But this time, it's different, Veronica states immigrants feel like they are being hunted with political targets on their backs.
“The peace has been shattered in our community. The fragile economic stability that we have here has been shattered. People are missing work that's going to hurt their income. Some kids aren't going to school,” said Veronica.
Adding to that fear is President Trump's removal of any restrictions on "Sensitive areas." ICE officers can now enter schools, places of worship, and hospitals — something the Ohio Attorney General supports.
“At the end of the day, you go where the people are when you're enforcing the law we don't have safe spaces,” said Dave Yost, Ohio Attorney General.
But at Painesville City schools, Superintendent Josh Englehart feels the worry is through the roof, and he's trying to remind the community that no one can just walk up and gain access to a child.
“By granting access where there is no legal access granted, we're in violation of the law if we do that. So those protections are in place,” said Englehart.
The superintendent, as the only way an ICE officer can enter the school is if they have a warrant signed by a judge.
“We will respond as district administration as well as our school resources officer, as well as our school resource officer, to ensure that any documentation that is provided to us is, in fact, clears legal muster, and will involve our legal counsel in making that determination,” said Englehart.
Painesville is putting new protocols in place in case they have to deal with any ICE officers,
Meanwhile, Veronica encourages the community to stay calm and support each other as they face the uncertainty ahead.
“What we are going to do is we're going to stay organized. We're going to be united. This is a safe space here. We're going to have meetings, and we're going to share information,” said Veronica.
On Tuesday, the Painesville city council released the following statement regarding the immigration policy changes.
“The City of Painesville is a diverse community that values the safety, security and tranquility of all of its residents. In light of the proposed federal policy regarding deportations, the City will continue to address immigration as we have in the past. We will not speculate about the future policies on immigration and plan to monitor the situation very closely. - Painesville City Council”
