Increased immigration raids and presence in courthouses have central Ohio immigrants afraid to show up to court dates.
Joseph Mas, an attorney and former executive director for the Ohio Commission on Hispanic Latino Affairs, said he received six calls on Monday from people asking if they should show up to traffic court.
One of the calls was from a person with a pending asylum claim. The rest of the calls were from undocumented immigrants.
“None of them had any serious problems. They all were charged with minor violations. One was a fender bender, driving without a license, things of that nature,” Mas said. “But the real reason for their call is because they were wondering whether they should show up in court or not, or that they had been told not to show up unless they were represented by an attorney.”
Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officials waiting outside of courtrooms is a new tactic that has been seen in several states. Mas said the measure is taking advantage of undocumented immigrants who are trying to do the right thing.
“Who is going to be in court is public record. You can look at that on today's municipal court or common pleas court website and find out who's going to be in court tomorrow,” Mas said. "If you have a foreign sounding name and you happen to be in court, well the chances are they can cross reference their records as to people that they know or suspect are in this country without documentation.”
However, if someone does not show up for their court date, a warrant for arrest could be issued, regardless of immigration status. Someone with a warrant can also be detained by law enforcement agencies including the Columbus Police and Franklin County Sheriff's Office.
While Columbus is not considered a sanctuary city, the Franklin County Sheriff’s Office, which operates jails for the county, does not report undocumented inmates to ICE. However, Mas said this does not prevent ICE from detaining people.
“If they were taken over to the jail, then the chances are that ICE is going to discover that you're in the jail because, again, that is public information,” Mas said. “So if they release you from jail the next day on bond, or otherwise, or because you've concluded your case, ICE will pick you up.”
Fears in immigrant communities in central Ohio are not limited to those who are undocumented. Mas said that he has spoken to clients who are afraid of going to renew their work visas, because ICE may detain them during that process.
Mas also said that not all undocumented immigrants are getting detained at court hearings, adding to the uncertainty.
“The question that they're asking themselves at this point is, 'should I even take the risk to show up'? But of course, because they're not doing it in 100% of the cases,” Mas said. “The problem is that they are letting some people go, or at least not enforcing it against some people. And as a consequence of that, then they're taking a chance innocently. They are just basically exposing themselves to the risk.”
Mas said there currently aren’t many options for undocumented immigrants. His advice right now is to lay low.
“The only way that you can remain undetected is to remain undetected,” Mas said. “Don't drive, don't go out in the middle of the night with friends. Don't put yourself in situations where you're going to be with somebody, but you're gonna have to live underground, not unlike some communities had to during the times of Nazi Germany.”
