Mayor Justin Bibb this week released a statement condemning the reported immigration arrests of employees at a Cleveland Heights restaurant.
Bibb suggested that Cleveland police would cooperate with Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers only in cases in which a person committed a violent crime. The part of his statement that won the most space in headlines was this: “…we are not enforcing general federal immigration law.”
Whether this is much of a change from the status quo is another matter. Bibb’s statement did not say how much time Cleveland police historically have spent on illegal immigration cases, if any.
A spokesperson for the mayor’s office told Signal Cleveland that, so far, ICE had not asked Cleveland police for assistance. Neither Cleveland nor Cuyahoga County is listed as having what’s called a 287(g) agreement with ICE – a deal delegating immigration enforcement authority to sheriffs and local police.
But the mayor’s statement was nonetheless seen as a drawing of the line in the political sand.
U.S. Sen. Bernie Moreno gave a forceful, off-the-cuff rebuttal to the Democratic mayor’s words this week on talk radio host Bob Frantz’ show. The new Republican senator said he hadn’t seen Bibb’s statement yet but that the gist of it sounded “massively disappointing.”
“I had hoped to work with the mayor in a positive way,” Moreno said. “But if he’s going to protect and advocate for criminal illegals, he’s not going to have an ally with me. And in fact he’s going to open himself up to legal jeopardy. Because we’re not playing.”
Moreno continued: “We will not give federal funding, one cent, to cities that do that. And that will cripple Cleveland.”
How much leeway do cities such as Cleveland have in working with ICE? The ground may still be shifting on that question. President Donald Trump has signed an executive order that aims to strip federal funding from cities that “seek to interfere” with federal law enforcement.
Meanwhile, in Columbus, Republican state lawmakers have introduced a bill that would require local police to cooperate with federal immigration authorities. Police would also have to notify ICE when they arrest a person they have “reasonable cause to believe is unlawfully present in the United States,” the legislation says. Cities that don’t comply would be docked state funding.
That wasn’t all that Cleveland’s mayor had to say about the second Trump administration’s early wave of immigration arrests. Speaking as president of the Democratic Mayors Association, Bibb called the string of high-profile ICE arrests a “charade” and “theater.”
“We all agree that we must remove dangerous individuals who are here illegally,” he wrote in an email addressed to fellow mayors. “But instead of working on real solutions, which Congress could do, they are turning their failure to act into a reality show threatening our communities. ICE raids are not new – they have been happening regularly for some time. These raids are now being dressed up and disguised as action, and mayors are being targeted for not participating in the charade.”
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For CMSD’s eyes only
The Cleveland Metropolitan School District this week assured teachers and families that it follows “clear protocols” to minimize disruptions if immigration officers show up at schools.
What are those protocols? The district won’t say. A district spokesperson declined to say how CMSD staff would handle a visit from ICE agents. That’s “proprietary information,” the spokesperson for the public school district said.
Once shielded from ICE, schools are no longer a no-go zone for immigration authorities. The Trump administration policy change has left school districts to explain what they would do if ICE comes knocking.
Akron Public Schools released guidelines for how teachers and staff can respond to ICE agents, as Signal Akron’s Andrew Keiper reported. In Cleveland, CEO Warren Morgan sent a message to teachers and families Thursday saying that the district has a way to “minimize disruption” if ICE shows up.
“Please know that CMSD follows clear protocols, grounded in district policy and federal and state law, to ensure that any such interactions occur in a manner that minimizes disruption to our students’ education,” Morgan wrote. He added that the district’s central office is reviewing its policies with principals and security teams.