Ohio Immigrant Alliance Lynn Tramonte told a Columbus City Council committee that data shows that the average immigrant detained in Ohio is a 35-year-old single man from Mexico with no criminal history.
Tramonte spoke during a three-and-a-half hour-long Columbus City Council Rules and Policy meeting Tuesday night, at which council members discussed proposed legislation designed to push back on Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (ICE) operations.
Proposals on the table include prohibiting Columbus law enforcement from working with ICE and restricting how federal immigration agents can use city property, among others.
Council members said the proposed changes are similar to those introduced in Philadelphia, Minneapolis, Milwaukee and Baltimore, which aim to curb federal overreach.
Columbus City Council President Shannon Hardin said the proposed law changes are about more than immigration.
"This is about who we are as a city, our humanity. It's about economic development, because cities thrive when people feel safe going to work, opening businesses and investing their future," Hardin said. "It's also about safety, because a city is less safe when parents are afraid to drive their children to school."
Tremonte said that the Ohio Immigrant Alliance found that 4,568 people were detained in Ohio between the start of President Trump's second term and mid-October 2025. The vast majority of those people — almost 4,000 — are Hispanic, and more than 4,100 are men.
She said less than 300 of the people detained had violent criminal offenses.
Tremonte said that in many cases, detention of immigrants is not mandatory, but happens at the discretion of the federal government.
"They use detention as a weapon. The purpose of immigration jail is supposed to be to protect the public. But our analysis shows that the people we are detaining in Ohio pose no threat to anyone," Tremonte said.
Tremonte is aware of about 700 people who have been detained in Columbus, with around 280 of those arrests happening during Operation Buckeye, an ICE effort that ramped up enforcement in central Ohio in December.
About half of the people arrested during Operation Buckeye were sent to the Butler County Jail, Tremonte said.
"Local participation in federal immigration enforcement is central to mass deportation. This also means that local officials have the power to not participate in such a destructive policy," Tremonte said.
Columbus City Council is expected to vote on some of the proposed code changes on Monday. Council members may also consider additional policies beyond those outlined by the Rules and Policy Committee.
Columbus City Councilmember Lourdes Barroso de Padilla said Tuesday evening that she believes the local government has a responsibility to ensure that every person in the community feels safe and respected.
"Local resources exist to serve local residents, not to advance unchecked federal enforcement actions. We cannot ignore federal law or federal policy, but we can decide how our city interacts with it," Barroso de Padilla said.
