Sooner or later, it will be Cincinnati’s turn to experience the wave of deportation raids the Trump administration has released on American cities.
And Cincinnati Mayor Aftab Pureval, himself the son of legal immigrants, knows there is nothing he can do to stop it.
But he doesn’t have to like it.
“If the president, backed by Republicans in the House and Senate, wants to do it, and clearly they do, there is nothing we can do about it,” Pureval told WVXU last week.
“I took an oath to follow the Constitution and we will follow the law,” said Pureval. “I am the Democratic mayor of a blue city in a red state. There is nothing I can do to change the law.”
According to 2023 U.S. Census numbers, 6.8% of the city’s population is made up of foreign-born people — 5.9% in Hamilton County.
The vast majority are people who are here legally. No one knows just how many undocumented immigrants are in the Cincinnati area, but, chances are, there are some.
And, Pureval says the city is already feeling the effects of the threat of federal raids in search of immigrants who are here illegally.
RELATED: Cincinnati Public teachers ask for reassurance from district as fear of ICE raids grow
“Cincinnati Public Schools have already seen an impact on attendance in some schools,’’ the mayor said. “I know that many people are confused and intimidated by all of this. There are a lot of rumors flying around. There are real consequences.”
People here and across the country have seen and read the news stories about raids in major cities that have taken place. And, in many of those cities, immigrants who are here legally — including at least one military veteran in Newark, N.J. — have been among those rounded up by federal agents.
Obviously, enforcement of federal laws on immigration and deportation did not begin with Trump’s swearing-in on Jan. 20.
That has been going on in Cincinnati and every other city and state in the nation since ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement) was created in 2003 as a Department of Homeland Security response to the terrorist attacks of 9/11.
And, before ICE, immigration laws have been enforced by one department or another since the founding of this country.
Deportations of immigrants in this country have been going on since 1794, when Massachusetts started sending back a flood of Irish immigrants.
It was a much quieter, little-noticed effort before Trump ran for office beginning in 2016 on a campaign promise to deport millions of undocumented immigrants, with an emphasis on those who have committed crimes. (Though research indicates that immigrants commit less crimes than U.S.-born people.)
After Trump took office last month, he began issuing executive orders to start the deportations in a host of major cities, including New York, Chicago, Miami, and Los Angeles.
It’s just a matter of time before organized ICE raids reach mid-sized cities such as Cincinnati.
RELATED: Know your rights: Advocates prep migrants for stepped-up enforcement
“What used to be a threat is now a reality,’’ said Pureval. “Many did not take (Trump’s) rhetoric seriously during the campaign. But it is real.”
Pureval said that neither his office, the city manager’s office, nor any other office of Cincinnati government has been contacted by ICE about immigration raids here.
He doesn’t expect any warning.
"They've never contacted the city in the past," the mayor said.
The mayor said the city can’t stand in the way but won’t be participating in any ICE raids that take place here.
“There is no role for local law enforcement in enforcing immigration laws,” Pureval said.
If the law is changed by Congress to say that local law enforcement must help ICE with its raids, the city would follow the law, the mayor said. But he doesn’t expect that to happen.
Pureval said Cincinnati Police do not ask people pulled over in traffic stops or put in custody for crimes about their immigration status. And they won’t in the future.
“That has been the policy of the city for many years now,’’ he said. “That won’t change.”
Hamilton County Sheriff Charmaine McGuffey said her department allows "members of the public, including immigrants and refugees, to communicate with our office without fear of interrogation into immigration status or deportation."
"Now that the Trump administration is in office, we will work with federal agencies to understand what new laws and directives will be enforced in Hamilton County," McGuffey said. "I am and will always be a sheriff who enforces law and order, and I am also a sheriff who is an advocate for equal human rights."
In 2017, Cincinnati City Council declared Cincinnati a “sanctuary city” — before Pureval and current City Manager Sheryl Long were in office.
From the archives: Cincinnati May Call Itself A 'Sanctuary City.' It's Not
There is no one definition of what a “sanctuary city” is, but it was clearly a response to Trump’s anti-immigrant rhetoric and his first-term deportations.
That status won’t change in Cincinnati, the mayor said.
“We are a welcoming city,” Pureval said. “We want to be a destination for people coming to this country.”
Pureval’s parents — his father Devinder Singh Pureval and his mother, Drenko — came to this country in 1980 and settled in Beavercreek, Ohio, outside of Dayton.
His father was Indian; his mother fled to India from her native Tibet, crossing the Himalayan Mountains to get away from Chinese repression. They became U.S. citizens.
“I know the story of immigrants to this country,” Pureval said. “I’ve lived it. That’s why we take this very seriously.”