COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH) — One Ohio lawmaker is working to take some immigration laws into his own hands.  

“Anyone that is unlawfully present in the state of Ohio should be fearful that ICE (U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement) is going to enforce federal immigration laws wherever you are present,” Rep. Josh Williams (R-Sylvania) said. 

Immigration policy and enforcement is set at the federal level but Ohio lawmakers, like Williams, said that does not mean Ohio has no say. Williams has already introduced two immigration-related bills. One targets “sanctuary cities” and the other requires certain state agencies like the Department of Rehabilitation and Correction to collect and report citizenship data. 

“We collect data on everything from gender and race to age to prior criminal offenses,” Williams said. “There’s a lot of data points that we currently collect. Immigration status is not one of them.” 

Williams said for illegal immigrants arrested for something like a misdemeanor, the presumption is that they will be released on bond the next day, saying that was no good. 

“We should be holding those individuals for ICE to come in and enforce federal immigration law,” Williams said.    

Williams said it is also a money issue: if an illegal immigrant is in an Ohio detention center, the federal government covers the cost of it, but with no data on the inmate’s immigration status, state and tax dollars are paying for that prisoner. 

“We need to know the data of how much of those funds are being allocated for individuals that are here illegally,” he said.

Williams also wants to make it a state crime to be an illegal immigrant in Ohio, similar to a Texas law that was upheld by that state’s courts.   

Williams does not want to stop there, saying he intends to introduce at least six more immigration-related bills, including one that has to do with ICE in schools. 

“Do I believe that ICE should be going in schools?” Williams said. “Not only do I believe they should be going to schools, I want to require schools to allow them. Like that’s how tough I am on immigration.” 

Williams said this would not just be K-12 schools, but places like hospitals and universities. 

“If you accept any dollar that comes from the state of Ohio, you should have an open-door policy when it comes to federal immigration enforcement,” he said. 

Williams said he is “unapologetic” on immigration but his stances and proposals are leaving some like State Director of the League of United Latin American Citizens, Alicia Pagan, worried. 

“I never thought that at this age, I would be fighting to hold on to those precious, precious privileges that we have in this country,” she said. “We have no time to sit on the wayside.” 

Pagan is from Puerto Rico — her family came to the mainland United States when she was 1 — in 1956. She is recently retired but spent more than two decades in Ohio as a schoolteacher. Now, she worries about the direction the country — and state — is going.   She said even though she has been a legal citizen for decades, she is carrying proof of citizenship wherever she goes and encouraging her friends and family to do the same.

“Because here in Ohio, if you look like you might be an immigrant, then you’re suspect,” she said. “I have nine family members that have served in the military and three branches of the military. So, we proudly, proudly stand as American citizens, but we also demand that we have the rights and privileges given to us as American citizens be respected.” 

Pagan said she knows the trauma that ICE in neighborhoods can cause for children firsthand from her time teaching in Dayton. 

“When word got into the schoolhouse that ICE was in their neighborhoods, we had to stop teaching so that we could console kindergartners from crying because they were afraid that they were either going to be taken away or that they would go home to an empty house,” she said.    

Pagan said that a policy like requiring that ICE go into schools would cause “undeniable trauma.” 

“We need our politicians to understand that they are doing irreparable damage by choosing to focus and demonize innocent human beings,” she said. 

Pagan said immigration policies do need to be revised, but she said the way both the state and federal governments are taking a crack at it is not the way to go. 

“There is no doubt we have a broken system,” she said. “The system must be fixed but we should not do that at the at the risk and the trauma of children and families and individuals who are hardworking individuals in our communities.”  

How likely are measures like this to pass in Ohio? Ohio Senate President Rob McColley (R-Napoleon) said he is interested in legislation that claws back state funding. 

“We have the power of the purse and so if we have institutions and local governments across the state that are simply going to refuse to follow federal law and immigration law, then that’s something we need to take a look at,” he said. 

Ohio House Speaker Matt Huffman (R-Lima) said he is interested in making sure that state law enforcement and other governmental entities cooperate with federal authorities. Huffman was specifically asked about ICE in schools and pulling funding from cities.  

“I support those things and we’ll see what portions of those bills get passed, if not the entire things,” Huffman said.