In her testimony to the Senate Armed Services, Veterans Affairs and Public Safety Committee, Roegner said her bill “would provide much needed support for federal immigration authorities by requiring state and local public offices and public officials to allow the arrest or detention of any person who is, or is suspected of being, in the United States illegally for that person’s removal or for other immigration-related purposes.”
S.B. 172, which now heads to the Ohio House for further consideration, would govern every single public office, and its representatives, in the state, including public schools, courts and police departments.
Aside from blocking these offices from providing protections from immigration-related arrests, S.B. 172 would explicitly allow for such arrests to occur anywhere in Ohio, from local, state or federal officers with or without a warrant, according to a the legislature’s nonpartisan analysis of the bill.
Senate Democrats, who unanimously opposed the bill, argued that it was rushed through the chamber (S.B. 172 received its first hearing on May 28 and was passed June 18) and that it would lead to more racial profiling and less due process.
Sen. Catherine Ingram, D-Cincinnati, referenced the story of Emerson Colindres, a 19-year-old Cincinnatian who was arrested on June 4 during a routine check-in with ICE and detained in the Butler County Jail.
NBC News reported that Colindres was deported on Wednesday to Honduras, where he and his family fled from in 2014 seeking asylum.
“This kid has been here since he was eight years old. No record, no nothing, has not been to juvie, (just) playing on the soccer team,” Ingram said.
Senate Republicans, who voted unanimously in favor of the bill, said it was necessary to ensure full alignment with federal policy.
“This bill reaffirms an essential principle: No one is above the law,” said Sen. Andy Brenner, R-Delaware. “Ohio, like every other state, must not be a sanctuary where federal law is undermined by conflicting local policies.”
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Avery Kreemer can be reached at 614-981-1422, on X, via email, or you can drop him a comment/tip with the survey below.