Ignite Peace update on the Cincinnati immigrant landscape

For a nation with a legacy firmly enmeshed with immigration, it’s become a fraught subject with an often bifurcated perception of “acceptable” immigrants who “did it the right way” and the rest deemed “unacceptable” undocumented entrants into the country.

It’s been well chronicled how the current administration as well as Immigration and Customers Enforcement (ICE) are aggressively searching for and detaining undocumented immigrants. However, given the rapid ICE deployment to seize and detain immigrants, many are unfamiliar with the different classifications of immigration status and what rights non-native residents have.

On an early June weeknight, Cincinnati-based Ignite Peace, formerly known as the Intercommunity Justice and Peace Center, provided an Immigration 101 presentation at the Peaslee Center in Pendleton about the challenges immigrants living in our community face. Program director Samantha Searls, who manages the organization’s immigrant support and advocacy, led the evening event.

According to the American Immigration Council, 5.1% of Ohio’s residents, or 601,000 residents, were immigrants in 2023. According to Census data published that same year, 5.8% of Greater Cincinnati area residents are foreign-born (for comparison, the nationwide rate is 14.3%.)  In our region, 41% of foreign-born residents come from Asian countries, 27% come from Latin America, 17% from Africa, and 12% from Europe. In Hamilton County, the foreign-born population represents 6.2% of the population, and 6.6% within the city. Within this population, 51.7% are naturalized citizens.

Among the remaining noncitizen residents, immigrants fall within three classifications:

1. “Green card” permanent residents
2. Those who arrived with visas, which are issued for a finite amount of time, including students, temporary workers, and tourists
3. Those coming for medical treatment

The rest are referred to as undocumented, which can include those who have entered the country without a visa and those who have overstayed an issued visa.

Two groups who are exceptions to the visa requirements are:

1. Those who are granted refugee or asylum status because their home countries are deemed unsafe for those who have left. Refugees are designated by the United Nations, with assistance in resettling provided by the host country.
2. Asylum status is granted by the host country by migrants who present themselves to Border Patrol or other U.S. officials, which immediately enters them into the asylum-declaration process.

However, the process of having asylum granted has long been complex and prohibitive. In 2023, the number of applicants granted asylum reached its apex of 54,350, according to the American Immigrant Council. But during the first Trump administration, the number continually plunged from more than 40,000 in 2016 to less than 20,000 in 2020. Given the strongly anti-immigrant clamor emanating from Washington, it’s likely to decrease markedly. Moreover, the current administration has stopped assisting with refugee resettlement efforts.

There are three additional specially designated immigrant groups:

1. Those designated under the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA), which included minors who accompanied their undocumented immigrant parents into the U.S. who were allowed for renewable documentation that protects them from deportation. The US Citizenship and Immigration Services estimates 700,000 to 800,000 DACA recipients live nationwide, with roughly 3,500 living in Ohio.
    
2. Temporary Protected Status (TPS), which provides temporary residence for nationals from countries suffering from political unrest, natural disasters, and other traumatic events. Haitian nationals, including the large enclave in Springfield, were granted TPS due to their home country’s devastating earthquaking and political instability, but the current administration has erased TPS status, which is slated to expire in August. Nepal’s TPS status has additionally been revoked beginning in August, which could also impact a sizable enclave of Greater Cincinnati residents.
    
3. Special Immigrant Juvenile Status (SIJS), which is granted to minors who enter the country without an accompanying adult. Searls quoted a 2019 Cincinnati Enquirer article that noted Cincinnati Public Schools served more than 200 students who’d come to the country and gained SIJS status.

Here were several key takeaways from Searls’ presentation:

• Undocumented immigration is not a criminal offense; it is a civil infraction.
• Under Ohio law, if an undocumented immigrant is engaged by an ICE agent or law enforcement, they are required to give their name, address, and date of birth, but otherwise maintain the right to remain silent.
• Those who have their immigration status questioned or challenged are advised to sign nothing without legal counsel (immigrants are entitled to speak to a lawyer, but, unlike citizens, aren’t guaranteed legal representation.)
• People in their homes are not required to open their doors to ICE agents.
• Searls distributed red cards in various languages that asserted immigrants’ rights to not have to answer questions and encouraged attendees to pass them out to immigrants they encounter to help them protect themselves with ICE encounters.
• Money talks. One presentation attendee mentioned that his fiancée was seeking legal representation in her home country to receive her green card and stated his fiancée’s legal representation cost $14,000.

Searls’ presentation highlighted several Ohio bills introduced that would adversely impact immigrants residing in Ohio:

• Ohio HB 42, introduced by State Rep. Tex Fishers (R-Boardman), which is currently being heard by the Government Oversight Committee. This bill would require state agencies and entities, including schools, to collect and report data concerning the citizenship or immigration status of people they serve. 
• Ohio HB 200, introduced by State Rep. Gary Click (R-Vickery), which would make being an undocumented immigrant a felony. The bill is currently in committee.
• Ohio HB 26, introduced by Josh Williams (R-Sylvania Twp.), would require state and local authorities to cooperate with federal enforcement of immigration laws, with funding cuts as punishment for noncompliance.

The informative presentation underscored that, although there is only so much people can do to advocate for immigrants, there’s more than nothing. Only roughly a dozen people attended with the next presentation taking place virtually in August. Searls said 60 people had attended the last in-person presentation in January.

Westwood resident Angie Reisert, who attended the presentation, said that she was concerned about ICE activity taking place in Price Hill and wanted to know what she could do to support the immigrant community there.

For those interested in getting involved with Ignite Peace, visit www.ignitepeace.org or call 513.579.8547.