A U.S. Department of Homeland Security official said today that Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers are conducting operations in Springfield and other Ohio towns as both political sides clash again over immigration.
While DHS Assistant Director for Field Operations Liana Castano said that the department did not have immediate and specific plans to mobilize ICE agents to deport Haitian immigrants, many of whom live in Springfield, if their Temporary Protected Status were to end on Feb. 3, she said that there have been daily ICE operations in Springfield, Springfield News-Sun reported.
Gov. Mike DeWine said on Monday that ICE promised to give 24 hours’ notice before raiding Springfield, according to the Springfield News-Sun.
“They told us that we would have at least a 24-hour notice, maybe longer, but it would probably not be a lot of notice,” he said. “If we get that notice, then of course we will notify people and be prepared for that.”
Castano claimed that she doesn’t know if her department plans to target TPS-holding immigrants, but said that if District of Columbia District Court Judge Ana Reyes didn’t issue a ruling that pauses the DHS’s termination of Haitians’ TPS, the ICE agents would have deported them.
The response came after Reyes demanded that DHS provide a sworn declaration confirming whether the agency has taken any action to mobilize ICE to Springfield, according to The Columbus Dispatch.
“ICE operations are targeted to those who are removable from the country, regardless of nationality, with the end goal of enforcing the immigration laws to preserve the national security and public safety of the United States,” Castano said.
Meanwhile, The Columbus Dispatch reported that at least 30 schools in Columbus, as well as the Ohio Statehouse, received emailed bomb threats on Monday.
Springfield schools were closed after Clark County officers received bomb threats calling to “get rid of Haitians,” which DeWine confirmed to The Dispatch.
“This is a despicable act that’s caused kids to miss a whole day of school today,” DeWine told the publication.
Additionally, anti-ICE activists began sending thousands of emails to the Franklin County judges to ensure that ICE agents would not be able to arrest people at the courthouse, as they did last week, according to the Columbus publication.
Akron’s mayor and City Council also opposed four proposed state laws that would require local agencies, including the Akron Police Department, to cooperate with ICE, Signal Akron reported.
