The Cincinnati City Council is moving fast to counter the Trump administration recent approval to put fast track deportations into place. Next month legislation is expected to pass that will “protect and assist” illegal aliens and refugees.

Five of its nine members, plus the councilman who introduced the motion last week have endorsed the creation of a Rapid Response Network. Councilman P.G. Sittenfeld fully expects all nine members to unanimously pass the legislation during the first week of August.

“Because of the current occupant of the White House … we the City of Cincinnati need to be proactive when it comes to protecting members of our community,” Sittenfeld said. “If you pay our taxes, if you are raising your family here, if you are adding to the diversity of our neighborhoods – and all of our immigrant and refugee families are doing this – you’re absolutely a member of our community.”

In order words, the city council is forming a network to provide sanctuary for illegal aliens and to fight ICE raids, detentions, and deportations. The city’s help extends beyond traditional freedom to stay as a resident despite legal status. The Rapid Response Network will provide free legal aid and other services. Sittenfeld announced the action at a press conference Thursday. The bad Orange Man in the White House is to blame, you see. The administration’s latest immigration policy is described as “draconian” in the motion.

The Immigrant and Refugee Law Center, a non-profit, will take charge and provide free legal aid to immigrant and refugee families. The executive director admits that ICE hasn’t even been conducting raids in Cincinnati but detentions in the area have increased, with more anticipated.

The formation of the network follows City Council giving $50,000 to the Immigration and Refugee Law Center in the budget passed in June.

LeMaster said that although the network will be led by the law center, it will be a collaboration including city officials and other community partners, such as the YWCA, Cincinnati Compass, the Cincinnati Regional Coalition Against Hate, Hispanic Chamber Cincinnati USA and the Junior League of Cincinnati’s RefugeeConnect, among others.

“People really want to be able to do something concrete to make a difference right now,” LeMaster said. “People want to make Cincinnati a welcoming community for everybody.”

You should note that Ms. LeMaster conflates immigration with illegal immigration. That one word makes all the difference. It’s the difference that brings about an ICE raid in the first place. It’s nice that Cincinnati wants to be a “welcoming community for everybody” but everybody includes those who have entered the United States illegally – lawbreakers. The Cincinnati Regional Coalition Against Hate, one organization in the group of collaborators, exhibits a common trope in its name. It is not hateful for residents of a city to want law and order, which includes enforcement of immigration laws.

How many times have Democrats said this week that no one is above the law? Well, that includes illegal aliens and refugees who didn’t follow the proper process in place.

The fast track deportations are for illegal immigrants who have been in the country for less than two years. These illegal aliens are not the ones the open borders crowd refer to when they demand amnesty for all. They aren’t the ones who have lived in communities for decades and raised families. These deportations are for those who have been here a short time – less than two years – and they are meant to ease the backlog of cases pending in immigration courts now. The new policy gives immigration agencies the ability to deport without court hearings.

Expedited removal of illegal immigrants began in 1996, long before the bad Orange Man was on the scene. Bill Clinton signed immigration law reforms and in 2004 during George W. Bush’s administration, expedited removal was used to deport illegal immigrants. This included individuals who entered without authorization if they are caught within two weeks of arrival and 100 miles from the Canadian or Mexican border. In 2017 President Trump tweaked the expedited removal system again.

On January 25, 2017, President Trump issued an executive order which directed the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to dramatically expand the use of “expedited removal” to its full statutory extent. On July 22, 2019, the Department of Homeland Security announced that it would carry out the full expansion. As of July 23, 2019, expedited removal may be applied to individuals who are undocumented, or who have committed fraud or misrepresentation, and who are encountered within the entire United States and who have not been physically present in the United States for two years prior to apprehension.

The 100-mile rule has been eliminated with fast track deportation. Deportations can happen anywhere in the country. The two week period is now a two year period. Opponents of more stringent deportation measures point to the increased authority this gives to immigration officers. The burden of proof is with the illegal immigrant, not the law enforcement officer. This is where concern about “show your papers” demands comes in.

Immigration lawyers are advising clients to have a plan.

Orendain also tells clients to have a folder handy — either at home, in the car or at work — with copies of lease agreements, employment verification letters, or other paperwork that shows they’ve been in the country for at least two years.

Clients who haven’t been in the country for two years need to be careful, he advised.

“What I’m telling my clients is — definitely if you don’t have the two years — you have to be careful,” Orendain said. “If you do have the two years, try to have as much proof of being here with you at all times — as long as it’s practical.”

If only we had a Congress that actually did its job and reformed immigration laws instead of relying on executive orders to handle the current crisis on the southern border. It would be a great place to start.