Tension is high in Columbus amongst immigrants and activists, yet white America will never know the fear of being an undocumented immigrant of color, especially now.

Making things worse for our local immigrant community was a false Columbus Reddit post of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents stalking international grocery stores on the North Side back in late January. A post with no photo or video yet read by tens-of-thousand.

Whether it was a white advocate who mistook what they saw, or a miserable neo-Nazi out for more spite, is unknown. The Brooklyn-based The Haitian Times reported how the post led to “rumors” which “quickly gained traction, sparking fear in the city’s immigrant communities.”

“I was here yesterday [the day of the false sighting], the place was peaceful,” Marine Jeudi, a frequent customer at the grocery store, told The Haitian Times. “Pa genyen ICE operation la non, wap fe moun pe,” she added in Creole, as she is Haitian. (“There’s no ICE operation here, you’re scaring people.”)

So far, Central Ohio has not witnessed the ICE workplace raids and sizable arrests made in the Cleveland area. Thank heavens, but the police-state apologists at our local broadcast news stations keep asking, “Where’s ICE?” There is an ICE office in Westerville, but just a handful of local arrests have been made, according to these same stations.

Remarkably good in some ways is how a silver lining is emerging during these dystopian days –an awakening of sorts in our immigrant communities. People are “getting educated,” says one of Ohio’s leading immigrant advocates, Cleveland’s Lynn Tramonte, director of the Ohio Immigrant Alliance.

“People are learning not to open their doors. And businesses are learning they have to ask to see a warrant, and if it’s a judicial warrant, they are learning they don’t have to answer question right away and go call the owner,” Tramonte told the Free Press. “I completely agree that false rumors are needlessly terrifying. Ohio Immigrant Alliance is not spreading anything that we haven’t verified. But the rumors are also compelling organizations and leaders to do more know-your-rights education and that is definitely working.”

Case in point was how MAGA man’s anger, ego mania and stupidity was on full display when “border czar” Tom Homan admitted to CNN that Chicago was making it too damn difficult for ICE.

“Chicago, very well educated,” he said. “They’ve been educated on how to defy ICE, on how to hide from ICE. They call it ‘Know Your Rights.’”

In Ohio, it is easy to think the MAGA cult and law enforcement looks at Latinos, Haitians, people from our Southern Hemisphere, and automatically thinks “illegal.” The worry is that overzealous ICE, the Columbus police, and others become loose with the law, especially if ICE has unrealistic quotas to fill.

Back in late January local immigration attorney Inna Simakovsky told the Dispatch “It was like a SWAT raid” when one of her clients was wrongly detained by ICE and sent to an ICE-contracted county jail two hours north. He returned home after ICE was shown his work permit.

One reason why he was sent so far away was because it was Tramonte and her contingent of advocates whose activism shut down two ICE-contracted county jails in Ohio during the Biden administration. Proof that regular citizens can affect serious change. One of the jails shutdown was in Butler County, near many food processing plants where immigrants work. A hellhole managed by Sherrif Richard Jones, the ultra-conservative anti-immigration blowhard who is a regular guest on right-wing media such as Glenn Beck.

Jones’s ICE jail, where many Columbus African and Muslim men had been sent to, had numerous complaints of violence and racism by correction officers.

“We worked with immigrants on the inside to bring legal and advocacy strategies to bear that forced the closure of two ICE contracts,” said Tramonte.

There are plenty of resources – such as the “Red Card” pictured below – available for immigrants to know their rights. The ACLU also has much to offer and is trying to make this loud and clear: “The ACLU emphasizes that regardless of immigration status, individuals have guaranteed rights under the Constitution.”

How to reduce risk to yourself:

Stay calm. Don’t run, argue, resist, or obstruct the officer, even if you believe your rights are being violated. Keep your hands where police can see them.

Don’t lie about your status or provide false documents.

Your rights:

You have the right to remain silent and do not have to discuss your immigration or citizenship status with police, immigration agents, or other officials. Anything you tell an officer can later be used against you in immigration court.

If you are not a U.S. citizen and an immigration agent requests your immigration papers, you must show them if you have them with you.

If an immigration agent asks if they can search you, you have the right to say no. Agents do not have the right to search you or your belongings without your consent or probable cause.

If you’re over 18, carry your papers with you at all times. If you don’t have them, tell the officer that you want to remain silent, or that you want to consult a lawyer before answering any questions.

What to do in such an encounter:

In some states, you must provide your name to law enforcement if you are stopped and told to identify yourself. But even if you give your name, you don’t have to answer other questions.

If you are driving and are pulled over, the officer can require you to show your license, vehicle registration and proof of insurance, but you don’t have to answer questions about your immigration status.

Customs officers can ask about your immigration status when entering or leaving the country. If you are a lawful permanent resident (LPR) who has maintained your status, you only have to answer questions establishing your identity and permanent residency. Refusal to answer other questions will likely cause delay, but officials may not deny you entry into the United States for failure to answer other questions. If you are a non-citizen visa holder, you may be denied entry into the U.S. if you refuse to answer officers’ questions.