ONE - Cruelty and chaos is the point. The brutal nature of deportation is now out in the open. Ordinary people, beloved local businesses — even schools — have become Trump ICE targets. This man was arrested in handcuffs, and the handcuffs were replaced with shackles. He wasn’t resisting arrest. ICE and local police saw a concerned resident capturing their actions, and decided to play to the camera.
TWO - Migration is as old as time. People move for safety and opportunity every day, whether it's from Kentucky to Ohio or Ghana to Gahanna. Migration is a basic part of being human. The immigrants we know are brave and caring human beings who would do anything for their families — just like the rest of us.
THREE - We live and thrive in community. Like we saw in the love enveloping Springfield after the city and Haitian-Ohioans came under attack, we take care of us. Community groups, schools, and other institutions around the state are wrapping their arms around Ohio immigrants. Concerned residents are reporting ugly ICE actions and offering support, through the Ohio Immigrant Hotline. Because Ohio is home and we are glad you are here.
FOUR - Opponents of immigrants are lying to build public support. Yesterday I saw an ABC Nightly News story that could have been a political campaign ad for people who hate immigrants — chock full of lies. Sheriff Jones of Butler County uses the same type of fear-mongering. They tell us they are arresting dangerous people in order to build public support. But Jones already has the authority to arrest people who commit crimes — he’s a sheriff. And ICE’s definition of who is a “criminal” defies the law and common sense.
What Jones is seeking is additional authority to arrest people who have NOT committed crimes. ICE jail is called “civil detention,” but it’s anything but. Read more here. And what ICE is doing is sweeping up ordinary people, while claiming they are going after threats. Even Trump’s Press Secretary admitted as much. Don’t believe their lies.
FIVE - This doesn’t have to be who we are. U.S. Americans are grappling with the new reality under Trump: ICE raids in our communities; using the U.S. military to detain and deport immigrants; and even cancelling immigration legal programs to make more people undocumented. Now is a good time to talk about what we want the immigration system to be, instead. Read this paper from Peter Markowitz about a system that makes logical sense and works the way most U.S. Americans think it already does. It involves simplified laws, paths to compliance, and recognition of the fact that immigrants are human beings.
Most importantly, there are no chains.
