The following is a message from Demba Ndiath, Advocacy Director at the Ohio Immigrant Alliance.
Ohio Immigrants & Allies!
I had the honor of attending an incredible event today at the Ohio Statehouse, where State Reps. Ismail Mohamed, Munira Abdullahi, Anita Somani, and key immigration advocates stood together against the Trump administration’s harmful executive orders targeting immigrant communities.
This press conference was a powerful statement: Ohio stands for unity, compassion, and justice for all our immigrant brothers and sisters. Watch an interview with Demba on ABC 6 and the full press conference here.
As the Advocacy Director of the Ohio Immigrant Alliance, I want to emphasize that we are stronger when we come together. We are building a movement that uplifts and supports immigrants across the state. Thank you to our Ohio Democratic leaders for taking a stand and sending a clear message that Ohio is a welcoming home for all.
Here’s how YOU can get involved:
Sign and share our petition with OPAWL.
Use and share the Ohio Immigrant Hotline & OhioIsHome.org website for resources.
Join our message briefing on Feb. 20th for Ohio leaders and grassroots organizers! Register here.
We need every voice in this fight. If you want to receive updates from the Ohio Immigrant Alliance, sign up here. Let’s keep showing up, speaking out, and standing together. Ohio is home for all!
View photos from the Ohio Statehouse press conference below.
Ohio Capital Journal reported on the press conference, including statements from Dr. Dorothy Hassan of Our Helpers and Yola Lamarre of the Haitian Community Network:
Our Helpers CEO Dorothy Hassan has helped stand up an organization called the Central Ohio Rapid Response Network, to act as a clearing house for groups assisting immigrants and refugees.
She explained that even if Ohio’s legislation is still just a proposal, it’s contributing to an atmosphere of fear. Hassan argued that families are being profiled by “neighbors who are being emboldened and have this new dark space to target the families that sound different and look different.”
Hassan said she hears about school attendance dropping the next day after stories about immigration arrests.
“So even without any of this being official or again voted on, yes, our families are living lives of fear right now,” she said.
Yola Lamarre is an advocate with the Haitian Community Network, and her clients are worried that their legal status is now tenuous.
“We did hear that comment being made that they will be a target population for them to have their (Temporary Protected Status) revoked,” she said.
Lamarre said it’s ironic that sweeping rhetoric about deporting illegal immigrants, particularly those who have committed crimes, is resulting in actions instead targeting people who are here legally.
“It is clear,” Lamarre said, “we have inflamed the issue of immigration by politicizing it when there’s a contemplation of terminating legal protections.”
“We must recognize how the power of discrimination is creating dangerous loopholes that are separating families that have contributed relentlessly to our state,” she said. “No one with legal status should be afraid of arrest.”
