TOLEDO, Ohio (WTVG) – The Trump administration is increasing its efforts for mass deportations.
“If you cross the border illegally, you will be swiftly deported and never returned to the United States of America,” White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said.
The uptick in federal immigration enforcement is causing some concern in Lucas County, including among mixed-status families.
This comes as some are asking local law enforcement agencies not to assist federal immigration authorities, but the sheriff says he or any local agency can’t stand in the way of the federal government doing its job.
During a planned meeting at the Farm Labor Organizing Committee building to sign a code of conduct agreement quickly turned to concerns of immigration enforcement.
In particular, if ICE shows up at FLOC’s May 3 march and rally for immigration reform.
“If ice shows up, we want to be able to have the correct response to their presence,” Baldemar Velasquez, President of FLOC, said.
He adds, he wants there to be a clear understanding between law enforcement officers and the community.
“We’re trying to avoid the reports we’ve heard from around the country of them just abducting people and deporting them without due process,” Velasquez said.
Lucas County Sheriff Mike Navarre said his hands are tied.
“We can’t interfere with ICE doing their job,” the sheriff said.
With ICE and other federal agency ramping up their efforts, the Trump administration said judges shouldn’t stand in their way.
“We also need rogue district court judges to stop acting as judicial activists trying to block the administration from deporting illegal criminals from our nation’s interior,” White House Press Secretary Caroline Leavitt said. “The American public elected the president to do this and he’s following through with that promise.”
Sheriff Navarre says he supports secure borders.
“I think as a federal government, we haven’t done a very good job of doing that in the past,” Navarre said.
However, he does disagree with what he calls “mass family separation.”
“The federal government has not offered a viable solution to the problem of family separation, and mass deportation equates to mass family separation,” the sheriff said.
Navarre is calling the action of separating children from parents “wrong,” and he’s asking the federal government for a solution to immigration issues.
Back in February, out of the 10 members on the Corrections Center of Northwest Ohio’s (NCCO) board, Lucas County Commissioner Pete Gerken and Sheriff Navarre voted against housing ICE detainees.
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This article was published by WTVG on 2025-04-23 23:29:00
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