Yellow Springs group focuses on immigrant rights
- Published: February 20, 2025
President Trump appears to be adhering to his promise to ramp up arrests and deportations of immigrants allegedly living in the U.S. illegally.
On the first day of his second term in office, Trump signed a number of executive orders and proclamations detailing projected overhauls of immigration policy. They included authorizing U.S. officials to enforce expedited removal of targeted immigrants who have been in the country for under two years, allowing deportations without court hearings.
A week out from Inauguration Day, national news outlets reported Immigrations and Customs Enforcement, or ICE, raids in large metropolitan centers that netted nearly 1,000 arrests in one day. Close to home, both the Dayton Daily News and WDTN reported in late January that Sugarcreek Township police had assisted ICE agents in detaining two Sugarcreek residents.
The news keeps coming hard and fast, and brings with it anger, confusion and fear for immigrants and those who know and love them. And it prompts a question for every community to consider: What do we do?
In Yellow Springs, a new group has formed in response to the question. Yellow Springs Community Coalition for Immigrant Support, or YSCCIS, began meeting in late December, and is set to host a teach-in event Saturday, Feb. 22, at the library. The event aims to educate local residents on immigrant rights and how to help neighbors who may be at risk.
The News spoke last week with YSCCIS members Abigail Cobb, Len Kramer and Catherine Roma. Each of them said they feel a personal pull to support area immigrants, regardless of their federal immigration status.
“For Mr. Trump to state what are, in my mind, vicious goals of mass deportation and characterizing immigrants as criminals and bad people makes me sad,” Cobb said. “Racial profiling and an official policy of condemnation and harassment could be really dangerous.”
Roma said she’s formed relationships with several Springfield residents who emigrated from Haiti. Noting the polemical language often directed at Springfield’s Haitian immigrants over the last few years, Roma said her mind turned first to the area’s Haitian community in the wake of Trump’s executive orders.
“I want to know these neighbors who have been impugned and attacked, and I want to be part of the solution by educating myself and meeting people,” she said.
Gov. Mike DeWine told news outlets at a press conference at Wright State University on Thursday, Jan. 30, that immigrants in Springfield — the majority of whom hold some form of legally protected immigration status — would likely not have to worry about being detained by ICE, saying: “Looking at Springfield in particular, these are workers who are here legally.”
The Springfield News-Sun reported the following day that, although many Haitian immigrants have received temporary protected status, or TPS, from the U.S. government through February 2026, President Trump has removed TPS for Venezuelan immigrants. Trump repeatedly stated during his 2024 campaign that he aims to remove TPS for Haitian immigrants as well.
Considering all these things, Kramer said he fears even those with protected legal immigration status, including permanent citizenship, could be at risk. He pointed specifically to World War II and the forcible relocation of more than 120,000 Japanese-American citizens to U.S. concentration camps from 1942 to 1945.
“Once they start building camps, they can do anything,” he said. “I think we need to speak up, as a nation of immigrants, and say that this is wrong.”
Several members of YSCCIS, including Cobb and Roma, attended an Immigration Justice Community Summit held at University of Dayton in late January. The event, they said, helped fill out their understanding of how immigrants and immigrant families can be prepared for potential immigration action — Associates for Basic Legal Equality, or ABLE, gave a “Know Your Rights” presentation, for example.
“One of the things that I was surprised to learn at the [immigration summit] is that it is not a felony to be in the United States without legal designation,” Cobb said.
She added that the summit provided a guideline for the upcoming teach-in YSCCIS will host: ABLE representatives will be on-hand during YSCCIS’s upcoming teach-in event to speak on the latest in immigration issues, along with Miranda Hallett, director of UD’s Human Rights Studies Program, who organized the UD summit. The event will also include an update on community-building ventures in Springfield from members of the city’s Haitian community, as well as a brief nonviolent bystander training.
For a hyperlocal perspective during the event, Mayor Pam Conine will discuss the Village’s own Resolution 2018-42, approved by Village Council in 2018 amid Trump’s first term. The resolution states, in part, that “no Village department may use Village funds, equipment or personnel for the sole purpose of detecting or apprehending persons based on suspected immigration status, unless in response to a court order” and that “no Village department or employee shall deny equal access to Village services based on immigration status, unless required by law or court order.”
As the News reported in 2018, the resolution was the result of the Village exploring becoming a “sanctuary city” in response to Trump’s first-term promises of immigration crackdowns. No official nationwide regulations exist that lay out exactly what a sanctuary city must do to claim the title, but in general, the term applies to municipalities that limit their cooperation with the federal government when it comes to deporting immigrants.
The Village’s resolution lays out a similar limitation to cooperating with immigration raids, but the Village’s solicitor recommended in 2018 that Yellow Springs stop short of a “sanctuary city” declaration, in part because the moniker could draw unwanted attention to those seeking safety in the village.
This year, one of Trump’s many executive orders promises to withhold federal funds from any sanctuary jurisdiction. At the same time, the Trump administration has lifted long-held restrictions on ICE conducting business in churches, schools and hospitals — often considered “sanctuary” spaces.
Locally, YS Schools released a statement on Jan. 29, reiterating the district’s commitment to “protecting student privacy and fostering a welcoming atmosphere,” and stating that “ICE agents are not allowed to enter nonpublic areas of schools without explicit district consent or a valid judicial warrant.” At the same time, Kramer said, a “subgroup of faith organizations here in Yellow Springs” has been quietly working together to stay up-to-date on immigration news and best practices.
“We’re hoping this network can start to move information back and forth among the communities as we go forward,” he said.
Though the Trump administration seems bound and determined to upend any sense of safety and sanctuary for immigrants of various legal statuses, the YSCCIS members said they’re heartened by the fact that communities and organizations are working to find ways to reestablish security for vulnerable members. With that in mind, Kramer said YSCCIS aims to keep working and holding public events beyond the teach-in — though what that will look like remains to be seen.
“Never in my life did I expect to be feeling this way, so I’m sort of unprepared,” Kramer said. “We’re laying down the tracks while we’re driving the train.”
YSCCIS will host its teach-in event Saturday, Feb. 22, 1:30–4:30 p.m., at the Yellow Springs Community Library. The event is free, and all are welcome to attend.
Contact: chuck@ysnews.com
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