Of the most frightened communities when Donald Trump won the election on November 8th, were undocumented immigrants.
Beginning his campaign by calling Mexicans rapists, raving about building a wall, and threatening to deport 3 million undocumented immigrants during his first year of office deepened fear among the community as their futures are now uncertain.
Marches against Trump’s anti-undocumented immigrant rhetoric broke out across the country, asking for peace and agreement and calling on mayors and governors to protect their neighbors.
Cities with high populations of undocumented immigrants are taking preemptive measures to protect their frightened tenants. These cities have been around for a long time, Los Angeles being the first in 1979 to inhibit police officers from taking action with an objective of knowing the immigration status of a person. Since then, other cities like New York City, Chicago, Detroit, and Philadelphia have taken up similar procedures.
Citizens are being more vocal about securing “sanctuary city” statuses, worried that they could or would be easily removed by the president-elect. Mayors, like New York City’s Bill de Blasio, are emphasizing their city’s stance on welcoming undocumented immigrants and announcing plans to resist deportation threats from the federal level.
Risks are high for these cities, though, as Trump warned in August of cutting funding for the cities that oppose him. The president-elect has also selected politicians for his cabinet, especially Alabaman Senator Jeff Sessions, who has history of opposing immigration bills. Senator Sessions is known for his 20 year long record of disapproving many immigration programs.
Out of the three major cities in Ohio, none are sanctuary cities, despite an unauthorized immigrant population of 83,000 according to data from a 2010-2014 American Community Survey. 50% of these immigrants are from Mexico and Central America.
As Franklin County went blue on November 8th, Columbus should take action in protecting and supporting their undocumented residents as more than a third of the immigrants in Ohio live in our county.
We must advocate for this community that we encounter more often than we know. As they work hard to make a better life for their families, we must consider what it takes to make Columbus, Ohio, an accepting and supportive haven for those concerned about returning to a place they risked their lives to leave and for the population that can no longer be ignored in our state.
