Immigration has largely left the national news in recent weeks. The visible, violent raids that made headlines over the winter have largely subsided since former Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem left her position last month. However, ICE deportations continue, less visibly.
As of last week, ICE is no longer officially present at Cleveland Hopkins International Airport, Communications and Customer Service Manager Michele Dynia confirmed. Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport and Pittsburgh International Airport have stated the same. However, this does not mean TSA checkpoints are clear from ICE surveillance. TSA and ICE both fall under the Department of Homeland Security, and information is shared openly between the two. Internal ICE data showed that TSA has shared more than 31,000 traveler records with ICE and that ICE has made more than 800 arrests as a result of TSA tips between President Trump’s inauguration and the end of February 2026.
Meanwhile, Ohioans continue to organize to support immigrants. Last week, Spectrum News reported that the Northeast Ohio Worker Center, in partnership with Young Latino Network and the immigration firm Bartell, Georgalas & Juarez, was hosting monthly wage theft clinics in Cleveland. Undocumented people, who comprise approximately one-fifth of Ohio’s immigrant population, are increasingly vulnerable to unfair pay and working conditions. Many immigrant workers aren’t getting paid on time, if at all. Additionally, workers are often getting paid well under their agreed-upon salary. Employers have been found to leverage immigrants’ fear of revealing their status too publicly as a way to exploit their labor, according to Jose Juarez of Bartell, Georgalas & Juarez. Juarez said he hoped the clinics would help immigrant workers feel empowered to speak out against their unfair conditions on behalf of their constitutional rights.
Locally, Oberlin students continue to show up for immigrants in the community. On Tuesday, April 7, Obies for Undocumented Inclusion put on their annual Immigrant Narratives Night at Cat in the Cream. Students were invited to share their experiences as immigrants — or as children or friends of immigrants. The narratives were presented through storytelling, spoken word, and song to a packed room.
