The federal government is looking for office space in Columbus to support law enforcement operations.
Columbus is one of 21 cities on a General Services Administration post made last month.
The notice says the government wants office space to support administrative operations for law enforcement. A specific agency was not named.
The other cities on the list are:
- Birmingham, Ala.
- Boise, Idaho
- Charleston, S.C.
- Columbia, S.C.
- Des Moines, Iowa
- Fort Lauderdale/Sunrise, Fla.
- Fort Myers/Naples, Fla.
- Grand Rapids, Mich.
- Jacksonville, Fla.
- Louisville, Ky.
- Milwaukee, Wisc.
- Oklahoma City, Okla.
- Pittsburgh, Pa.
- Raleigh, N.C.
- Richmond, Va.
- Spokane, Wash.
- St. Louis, Mo.
- Tampa, Fla.
This comes as the Trump administration has expanded Immigration and Customs Enforcement operations in major cities such as Chicago and Boston.
Jennifer Fening, deputy chief of staff for Columbus Mayor Andrew J. Ginther, said in a statement Wednesday that federal officials have not contacted his office about expanding law enforcement presence in the city.
“It’s not a productive exercise to speculate at future actions of the federal government," Fening said.
“Columbus is the safest it’s ever been, with homicides at a more than 20-year low even as the city has grown. The city works consistently with state and federal law enforcement to take dangerous criminals off our streets," Fening said.
She said that Ginther, Police Chief Elaine Bryant and Public Safety Director Kate Pishotti have met with Gov. Mike DeWine’s team to "discuss additional opportunities for collaboration and partnership."
She also referred to Ginther's executive order from 2017 that says the city will not investigate Columbus residents solely based on their immigration status, nor use city resources to apprehend anyone solely based on immigration status.
