Ohio is “Ground Zero” for Immigration Reform

La Prensa (Ohio)

By Kevin Milliken

August 4, 2015

Ohio is “Ground Zero” for Immigration Reform 

A pro-immigration advocacy group contends Ohio will be “ground zero” in the continuing immigration reform debate, especially as the 2016 presidential election approaches.

Ohio’s Voice, the state chapter of the national group America’s Voice, has issued a report that makes its case for why the Buckeye State will be at the forefront—listing several factors, including Ohio’s position on the northern border, its political swing-state status whose governor is running for president, and personal stories of Latino immigrants profiled in national media.

Ohio’s Voice director Lynn Tramonte authored the report, prominently citing a recent federal trial in Toledo about racial profiling, as one reason the state serves as “a microcosm of the national immigration debate.” Ms. Tramonte is also deputy director at America’s Voice.

“Along the northern Ohio and western Pennsylvania border with Lake Erie, an infusion of federal tax dollars has resulted in two shiny new border patrol stations and a massive expansion of border agents patrolling in local towns and communities,” she wrote. “Immigrants from across the state—many of whom are settled, long-term residents with homes, businesses, children, and spouses who were born here—have faced relentless scrutiny for appearing to be ‘foreign,’ forced to live in the shadows and in constant fear of being separated from their loved ones.”

The advocacy group hosted a conference call with reporters—including La Prensa—on Thursday, July 23, 2015, which included several panelists who are working on behalf of Latino immigrants across the state. They offered their thoughts on why Ohio will play such a pivotal role in the national immigration reform debate.

“There’s a stereotype about the immigration debate at the national level that all the action is at the southern border—and that’s where all the enforcement, all the profiling and all the conflict, and all the opportunities are based,” said Ms. Tramonte. “In fact, Ohio is really in a unique situation in the national debate.”

The Ohio’s Voice director also pointed out Ohio Gov. John Kasich and state attorney general Mike DeWine have entered into a multistate lawsuit “to basically sue Ohio families and prevent them from getting work permits.” The report calls the lawsuit “misguided” and points out it was filed by 26 Republican-led states to block a new Deferred Action for Parents of American and Lawful Permanent Residents (DAPA) plan and the expansion of the President’s Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program. The initiatives, currently on hold due to a court injunction, would shield up to five-million people, including thousands of Ohioans, from deportation.

Mark Heller, senior attorney for Advocates for Basic Legal Equality (ABLE), spoke about the recent seven-day trial in Toledo federal court on behalf of several Latino defendants who were stopped and detained by U.S. Border Patrol agents. ABLE alleged agents used racial slurs in reports, while their stop-and-search techniques lacked reasonable suspicion or probable cause.

“Clearly, the current system, as it’s playing out in Ohio, is out of control,” said Heller. “We think we have a serious problem.”

Veronica Dahlberg, executive director of HOLA Ohio, a grassroots advocacy organization based in the Painesville, Ohio area, stated her group’s community organizing efforts now surround the effects on undocumented families of immigration enforcement.

“Policies are being created based on fear and misinformation, and the lack of interaction with the more diverse constituencies that are out there,” she said. “You can’t legislate that way, at least not in any sort of effective way. So we’re trying to change that.”

HOLA Ohio has formed chapters across northern Ohio in different congressional districts, in order to push the immigrant reform agenda directly with elected leaders. Ms. Dahlberg hopes it will result in “smarter policies.”

The HOLA Ohio director stated the case in San Francisco, where an undocumented immigrant is accused of murder, is being used as a national scapegoat. She even compared it to the Willie Horton case in the 1980s, which also moved into the national spotlight in a presidential race dominated by The Donald.

“Unfortunately, we’re all being taken along on this ride by these leaders. I would really hope they would pause and try to come up with solutions that work and that aren’t harming families and children,” said Ms. Dahlberg.

Cleveland-based immigration attorney David Leopold, a former president of the Washington, D.C.-based American Immigration Lawyers Association, stated he was “heavily involved in the trenches” fighting deportation cases in Ohio.

“Ohio really is on the front lines in the battle over immigration reform,” he said. “We see ICE, as well as Customs and Border Protection, haphazardly targeting families. They are focusing on people who are here just trying to make a living, who have never committed crimes.”

Leopold criticized Kasich and DeWine for joining the multi-state immigration lawsuit, stating “we can’t look to our governor attorney general for much comfort.”

“Our attorney general Mike DeWine has a proud record of pro-immigration policy. He was a champion when he was in the U.S. Senate,” he said. “For some reason, he’s jumped on this politically-brazen lawsuit in Texas. Ohio, the heart of the country, is also the heart of the immigration battle. I think that’s a really important takeaway as we enter the 2016 race. All indications are the Latino vote is going to be even more important than it was in 2012 for whoever wants to win the White House.”

Jessica Pantaleon Camacho, who works in a Columbus law office, is the daughter of undocumented parents. She is a beneficiary of the DACA program, stating it “changed her life.” Ms. Camacho saw the struggles, uncertainty, and fear of her parents and believes her only way forward was through education. But she nearly lost college scholarships in 2013 before DACA saved her from a situation where her Social Security number was declared invalid.

Ms. Pantaleon Camacho stated she has seen several other, similar stories from Latino families while working at a law firm. She hopes Ohio leaders will see the effects the lawsuit is having on immigrant families across the state, as well as federal and state policies.

Leopold stated there has been confusion over how federal agents should implement the president’s directives in light of the lawsuit, especially when it comes to going after what President Obama called “the worst of the worst.” He alleged the biggest problem is with the “prosecutorial discretion.”

“If they (immigrants) can show economic need, they’re given the opportunity to apply for employment authorization,” explained the immigration attorney. “What we’re finding, in cases across Ohio, is where people are being given stays of deportation because they merit prosecutorial discretion, ICE in Ohio is cancelling their ‘orders of supervision.’ The reason is not to deport them directly, but it prevents them from getting employment authorization. They’re not deporting them; they’re just preventing them from working so they leave. It’s very cynical and an end-around the president’s enforcement priorities. What we’re seeing is a pattern of ICE in Ohio thumbing their nose at President Obama’s unquestionably legal enforcement priorities. It’s very frustrating and something new in the state of Ohio.”

The report issued by Ohio’s Voice roundly criticizes the Detroit ICE field office, which has jurisdiction over deportation cases in Ohio. The report labeled the office as “widely recognized as one of the most aggressive in the nation.” The reported cited the “countless reports of civil rights abuses” in 2011 prompting an outcry from local and national leaders after federal agents “were found talking immigrant families dropping their children off at school.” An internal investigation by federal authorities in Washington, according to the report, “predictably held no one to account.”

Baldemar Velásquez, founder and president of the Farm Labor Organizing Committee (FLOC), has, more than once, called for the director of the Detroit field office to resign directly as a result of those alleged abuses.

Ms. Camacho stated her hope that Ohio’s elected and appointed leaders would begin to understand and recognize the effects on Latino families and act accordingly.

“What I would like to see is that they understand where we’re coming from,” she said. “I feel if a lot of people would understand, if they would be able to put a face to a story, they would be more encouraged to make a change to a policy. I don’t think many people have been open to hearing these stories and have not been exposed to these stories.”

Ms. Dahlberg directly accused the 16 Republican presidential candidates of trying to deflect questions about what they would do about immigration reform and how they would handle existing executive orders from President Obama.

“What happens to people in the meantime? That’s the real question,” she said. “People want to know—will my spouse, will my grandfather be able to get his driver’s license and work or will he continue to fear deportation? This isn’t a policy issue. This is personal.”

The Ohio’s Voice report cited US Census Bureau statistics that show Latinos comprise three percent of Ohio’s population, but two percent of its electorate, but are driving the Buckeye state’s population growth.

Ohio gained an estimated 32,263 Latino residents between 2010 and last year, an increase of about nine percent. At the same time, there are about 7,000 fewer residents who say they’re not of Hispanic origin. According to census date, Ohio is now home to 477,337 immigrants, 82,000 of whom are undocumented and 25,000 of whom are eligible for the president’s DAPA and expanded DACA programs. Out of those 25,000 Ohioans eligible for the President’s latest programs, over 10,000 are farmworkers.

The Ohio’s Voice report also cited a Latino Decisions study that shows Republicans who want to become president of the United States will need to win at least 47 percent of the Latino vote nationwide—and 43 percent in Ohio. In polling conducted last year by Latino Decisions, two-thirds of Latino voters have a close friend, co-worker or family member who’s undocumented, and 32 percent know someone who has faced detention or deportation. The report concluded those numbers indicate immigration reform will weigh heavily on Latino voters’ minds in 2016.

“I would really like for us to be leaders on this issue, not just blindly following the hyper-partisan politics,” said Ms. Dahlberg. “It’s not working for the families in Ohio.”

“I think the reason Ohio is important is that we can point the way forward for the nation,” concluded Ms. Tramonte. “But we need our leaders at the state level and in Congress to make some changes. So far, they haven’t and need to step up and help us take a step forward.”

For more information, go to:  www.beverlyhillsimmigrationlaw.com