Some Cleveland Heights City Council members reason it could go further than the $15,000 per case sought by Cleveland Heights for Immigrant Rights.
The Cleveland Heights Community Center will host a watch party Saturday morning as the U.S. Women's hockey team -- featuring hometown heroine Laila Edwards -- faces off against Finland in the Winter Olympics.
Edwards learned to skate at the community center.CLEVELAND HEIGHTS, Ohio -- While requests for city contributions to an immigrant legal defense fund have not gained much traction, local officials continue to work on other avenues. Councilwoman Jessica Cohen announced Monday that the Cleveland Metropolitan Bar Association has provided some connections for legal clinics available to as many as 600 Heights residents at risk of deportation proceedings. Through the bar, Cohen secured a bilingual immigration attorney willing to offer at least three legal clinics for the Cleveland Heights community over the next six months. “The first could be held by the end of February -- in Spanish, if preferred -- to provide information that immigrants in our community may need ... whether by Zoom or in person,” Cohen said. Cohen already shared that information with the organization Cleveland Heights for Immigrant Rights , whose members have been lobbying council for the legal defense fund.On behalf of CH4IR, Karly Whitaker thanked Cohen and the rest of council, as well as Mayor Jim Petras. Petras said at the meeting that while there have not been many public updates, “many of us continue to work on this.”in Coventry Village by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents, the event also recognized those who have already lost their lives in the federal government crackdown. “It was good to see such a strong turnout for something so meaningful for the community,” Petras said. Whitaker said that next up will be a community ICE defense training seminar, from 3 to 5 p.m. Feb. 15, with 350 people already registered.“We still want to pursue doing the two-year pilot program for legal counsel,” Whitaker said. “But this is a great first step to help our residents who might be afraid right now with what’s going on, to get them some good advice,” she added. Council Vice President Gail Larson thanked Whitaker for her positive message, in light of some inflammatory emails received earlier from immigrant advocates who still want a Larson pointed to a Jan. 23 screed stating, “If you are as unwilling to take any action to protect the immigrants of Cleveland Heights, please just let us know so that we can alert the community to the local fascist collaborators on City Council.”," who rode a bus to Ann Arbor, Mich., in 2019 seeking the release of Haitian asylum seeker and former Heights resident Ansly Damus -- now In addition to personal out-of-pocket donations to the Immigrant Defense Fund and other organizations, Larson has also sat in as an observer in U.S. Immigration Court. “To those who want council to contribute $200,000 of taxpayer money to legal aid for immigrants who need those services -- we have heard you,” Larson said. Instead of dividing the community, Larson said that council, the administration and those interested in justice for immigrants need to work together and not against each other. “The charges made against council that our silence is complicity -- and thus we are fascists -- are disturbing and personally disappointing,” Larson said.“We have communicated that to the organization and we hope that they’ll take us up on our offer,” Cohen said. Cohen said the federal immigration crackdown is “deeply personal” to her, both as a member of the Jewish community and as an attorney. “We will continue to support in the way that we believe is best to steward city resources and to serve our entire community,” Cohen said. Meanwhile, Councilman Jim Posch said he saw State Rep. Juanita Brent at the city’s parks and recreation plan open house, where she warned him about proposed legislation in the statehouse. He cited four bills that ICE supporters in the state legislature are trying to push through: House Bills 26, 42 and 281, along with All would require local compliance with ICE, including hospitals and schools, which would also have to forward information to ICE .Brent and Posch recommended forwarding concerns about the legislation to lawmakers or even the governor for a potential veto. “It just seems to me like these are overreaches, escalating things to a point where we’re going to see more deaths,” Posch said.agents there either for the Winter Olympics they are hosting, Petras and Councilman Joe DeWitt-Foy announced a watch party Saturday morning at the Cleveland Heights Community Center.Laila Edwards
Cleveland-Heights-City-Council Cleveland-Heights-For-Immigrant-Rights Cleveland-Heights-Ice Cleveland-Heights-Immigration @Lll Jessica-Cohen Section:/Community
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