Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Immigration Services topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Cincinnati committee hears pleas to protect immigrant residents, asks administration for report on supports
Summary
Public commenters and nonprofit leaders urged Cincinnati officials to expand ‘know your rights’ outreach and services for immigrant residents; the committee moved a motion asking the administration for a 90‑day report on current supports and potential steps such as multilingual materials, a web portal and an employee resource group.
Vice Mayor Jan Michelle Leming Kearney opened the Healthy Neighborhoods Committee meeting by saying the panel would hear public comment and presentations about services for immigrant residents and new Americans.
Public speakers described fear and economic harm in neighborhoods with large immigrant populations and urged city action. “To me, this is a moral question versus a legal question,” said Don Driehaus, a Price Hill resident. Nancy Sullivan, director of Transformation CDC, told the committee “If suddenly… the immigrants living in the Price Hill area and Westwood disappeared, the economy would tank.”
The committee heard a presentation from Myra Casas Jackson, executive director of the Immigrant and Refugee Law Center, who emphasized practical steps residents can take during immigration enforcement encounters and the center’s legal‑support work. “Everyone in The US has rights regardless of our immigration status,” Casas Jackson said, and she urged broader distribution of the center’s “know your rights” materials. She gave the center’s phone and web contacts and asked the city to help print and distribute materials to reach families who lack internet access.
David Siders, civic engagement coordinator for the Cincinnati & Hamilton County Public Library, described free English classes, a 10‑session U.S. citizenship test preparation class, language learning tools that cover 140 languages and workforce resources available at the library’s 41 locations. “We want to meet people where they are and offer different kinds of opportunities,” Siders said, listing conversation groups, ESOL classes and job‑help services.
Representatives from local Latino civic groups asked the city to formalize a partnership of outreach, representation and education. Laura Mose, president of LULAC Ohio Educational Foundation, said community groups are working with schools, churches and businesses to distribute reliable information and to support bilingual mental‑health services. Alfonso Cornejo of the Hispanic Chamber of Commerce said increasing bilingual representation in city departments and creating a Hispanic employee resource group would help the city respond faster to community needs.
After presentations and public comment, Vice Mayor Jan Michelle Leming Kearney introduced a motion asking the administration to provide a report within 90 days on how the city currently supports immigrant communities and the feasibility of steps including: creating multilingual “know your rights” materials on the city website; linking to Compass and other community resource groups; creating a Hispanic employee resource group inside City Hall; and publishing information about anti‑bullying programs and hate‑crime reporting. The committee advanced the motion “without objection” to be placed on the committee’s agenda for formal consideration.
Committee members underscored practical items discussed by presenters: preparing guardianship and power‑of‑attorney documents for families, translation of materials into Spanish, French and Creole, and faster access to local mental‑health supports for children and parents facing stress. Council member Anna Albee asked about proactive guardianship and financial power‑of‑attorney forms; Casas Jackson said templates and clinics exist and the Immigrant and Refugee Law Center, Catholic Charities and Legal Aid are coordinating services.
The meeting record shows some confusion about phone numbers distributed during the Q&A; the Immigrant and Refugee Law Center provided (513) 827‑0557 and later speakers also referenced (513) 828‑0577. The center’s website is irlawcenter.org.
The committee’s action does not itself enact new city policy but requests the administration to report back on current programs and the feasibility of the listed steps. The committee said it expects the administration’s report to inform next steps and possible ordinance or policy proposals.
Why it matters: immigrant residents and their families live in neighborhoods across Cincinnati, and speakers warned that fear of enforcement is already disrupting work, school attendance and local businesses. Committee members framed the request to administration as a near‑term fact‑finding step to identify what the city can do directly and what requires coordination with nonprofits, schools and county or state agencies.
