Ohio Immigrant Alliance (OIA) just released a report, based on publicly-available data, showing that more than 214 people are currently behind bars due to the ICE raids in Columbus — and 80 percent are Latino. 

In the accompanying press release, OIA and other leaders describe the violent tactics ICE is using and remind the public that the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and ICE have yet to denounce the criminals within their own ranks. Right now, Cincinnati ICE Assistant Field Office Director Samuel Saxon is incarcerated in the Butler County Jail on a series of violent charges. 

Said Lynn Tramonte, Executive Director of the Ohio Immigrant Alliance, “The violent predators in our community work for ICE. The Columbus raids are an attempt by the Trump administration to distract us from the true problem — people with power who think they can use it against others and get away with it. ICE agents like Samuel Saxon and Andrew Golobic, who have abused women for years. Agents like the one who knelt on a pregnant woman and dragged her through the street in Minnesota, who recently came to Columbus to raid this community. They are not here to make Columbus better. They are bringing violence. When Columbus leaders said ICE makes our communities less safe and we don't need them here, that is exactly what they meant.”

“ICE is not a transparent organization. They avoid answering questions and, when they do provide information, they often lie,” continued Tramonte. “But these things are true: everyone has human dignity. Everyone has rights. This ICE violence, this racial profiling, this danger that ICE is unleashing on our streets, must end. Ohio is our home. We live here — not these agents who came from out of town— and we are all part of building it. It doesn’t matter if you were born in Massillon or Mexico, if you are contributing to Columbus, this is your home.” 

Read the press release, OIA report, and additional quotes from Columbus leaders here.