A pair of Republican state lawmakers has resurrected legislation from the last session of the General Assembly designed to disincentivize municipalities and counties from hampering U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents’ efforts to arrest and remove illegal aliens from the state.
Reps. Josh Williams of Sylvania Township and Tex Fischer of Boardman have introduced House Bill 26, titled the Protecting Ohio Communities Act, as federal immigration agents arrest large numbers of illegal aliens across the country, according to Associated Press reports.
“There are several counties and cities in Ohio that refuse to cooperate with federal law enforcement and have been dubbed ‘sanctuary cities’ and ‘welcoming cities,’” Williams told members of the Public Safety Committee in the Ohio House of Representatives this week. “It is imperative for state government to crack down on illegal immigration and protect working-class Americans from the harmful effects of illegal immigration.”
He said all parts of the state must be unified in the fight.
“No cities, counties or municipalities should subvert federal immigration laws and incentivize increased illegal migration to our state,” Williams added.
According to the non-partisan Center for Immigration Studies, four of the state’s 88 counties have been declared sanctuary counties: Franklin, Hamilton, Lorain and Mahoning.
There are no sanctuary cities or municipalities in the state, according to the center. Cities such as Columbus and Cincinnati previously have enacted “pro-immigrant” executive orders or resolutions, but the mayors of each city earlier this year said they would abide by state and federal laws relating to immigration policy.
HB 26 calls for a 10 percent reduction in Local Government Funds for any political subdivisions that is determined to have obstructed federal immigration law.
The bill stipulates the following requirements:
- Every Ohio law enforcement agency must take certain actions to cooperate with federal officials in the enforcement of federal immigration law;
- Law enforcement agencies must participate in federal programs to share information about arrestees with federal immigration authorities;
- Law enforcement agencies must honor federal detainer requests regarding persons who are unlawfully present in the country and otherwise to cooperate and comply with federal officials in the enforcement of federal immigration law; and
- A state or local governmental entity that administers a state or local public benefit must use the federal Systematic Alien Verification for Entitlements Program (SAVE) to verify aliens’ eligibility for those benefits.
The bill also prohibits any state or local governmental agency or political subdivision from adopting an ordinance, policy, directive, rule or resolution that prohibits or restricts a public official or employee from taking certain actions with respect to immigration enforcement.
“As we all know, there has been a crisis of mass illegal immigration into our country over the past several years,” Fischer said during the hearing. “It was one of the main points of emphasis this past fall in the election, and Ohioans spoke loudly and clearly on Election Day that the status quo on illegal immigration was unacceptable.”
He added that Ohioans no longer will tolerate their state being a place in which immigration laws are difficult to enforce.
Williams said that HB 26 further requires that each municipality and county must report annually to the state attorney general’s office that they are in compliance with this law and that they are complying with any request by federal agencies to assist in the detention of, capture of or processing of individuals when that underlying issue is based in federal immigration enforcement.
“The Protecting Ohio Communities Act will protect our hardest-working Ohioans and their families from the harmful effects of illegal immigration,” Fischer continued. “We cannot have a system where communities that intentionally defy federal law
are treated equally to those who work to enforce our reasonable immigration laws to the best of their abilities.”
Nine House lawmakers have co-sponsored HB 26, which awaits further consideration by the committee.
