'Now we know it's going to be different:' El Centro leadership reacts to executive orders

LORAIN — On the first day of his new term, President Donald Trump signed a flurry of executive orders. On the second day, El Centro Executive Director Victor Leandry was left to understand what the orders may mean for Lorain's immigrant community. Trump signed dozens of executive orders on the first day of his second term, including barring asylum for people newly arriving at the southern border and suspending the Refugee Admissions Program. He also moved to end birthright citizenship, which guarantees U.S.-born children are citizens, regardless of their parents' immigration status. Attorneys general from 22 states, as well as several American Civil Liberties Unions and nonprofits have sued to block Trump's move. Birthright citizenship is a constitutional right as part of the 14th Amendment. It is unclear how Trump's administration would end the practice. Leandry said some of Trump's new policies and orders are hard to prepare for — like the administration's campaign promises of mass deportation — but even with El Centro technically closed to the public on Tuesday, he was starting to outline how to educate the community. "We know here in Ohio the implication of a massive deportation," Leandry said. "We saw it in Willard with Corso's (Flowers and Garden Center). People were living there for years — the impact to the school, the economy, people were afraid to go back to work … then people started moving out of that community." In 2018, Immigration and Customs Enforcement raided two Corso's Flowers locations, one outside Sandusky and the other near Castalia. Agents took 114 suspected undocumented immigrants into custody, including some with ties to Lorain. One of the men caught in the raid had lived in the area for 16 years. His deportation left his wife to care for the couple's then 17-, 10- and 7-year-old children alone. The only thing El Centro can do is educate the community, he said, and make sure family members know what to do if their loved one is detained or deported. While a large portion of Lorain's Hispanic and Latino population are Puerto Rican or Mexican-American, those who are undocumented are often part of families of mixed legal status — such as parents who are undocumented and children who were born in the United States. The threat to end birthright citizenship was cause for concern, Leandry said, in part because of many families' mixed legal status, but also the fear and confusion it may instill. "I'm concerned about all of (the executive orders), but this one is specific," he said of the birthright citizenship order. He was concerned families may be scared to seek medical services, including pregnant women putting off prenatal care or going to a hospital if they have complications. He also touched on a Texas appeals' court's ruling on Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, or DACA, finding efforts to codify the program as unconstitutional. The ruling is limited to Texas. Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton called the 5th Circuit ruling a "major win for Texas and border security." Leandry said the ruling, and any impact it has on DACA recipients, is sad. DACA recipients, colloquially coined "dreamers," are individuals brought to the United States illegally as children and have lived in the U.S. continuously since at least 2007. "These are people with big dreams — we're talking about future lawyers, doctors, teachers … Some people think this is going to help the economy, I think it will be the other way around." If DACA is fully repealed, or mass deportations take place, it will not only destroy families, but throw the farming, hospitality and other industries reliant on those workers into a crisis, he said. El Centro has never directly provided legal services, Leandry said, but it has had staff members help individuals seeking citizenship through DACA or other programs fill out paperwork. Moving forward, his organization plans to work on its pipeline with legal services to ensure there is capacity for what Leandry expects will be an influx of deportation cases and calls for help. Lorain Schools Superintendent Jeff Graham said the district's role is to take care of the children and families it serves. While it may be a little ambitious for Trump to attempt to change the 14th Amendment, he said all of the executive orders coming out of the White House are a concern. "It scares me to death," he said of the potential impact on students in the district. "... There's so many wraparound services (Lorain Schools provides) and our folks are not going to anywhere — they're afraid to leave the house." Lorain Schools has a policy in place for law enforcement to engage with its staff. The Lorain school board updated the policy after a student at Washington Elementary School was detained by U.S. Border Patrol alongside her mother in February 2020. The girl was a U.S. citizen, while her mother was detained by federal agents for violation of an immigration order. Both were deported to Central America. The new policy requires Lorain Schools staff to contact a member of the district's safety department and to call a building administrator and bilingual support if necessary. The student or staff member in question are not to be called to the office, even if a student's parent is present, without speaking to a building or district administrator and a member of the school's safety department. On Tuesday, Trump's administration announced plans to carry out immigration enforcement near churches and schools. Acting Homeland Security Secretary Benjamine Huffman announced that "criminals will no longer be able to hide in America's schools and churches to avoid arrest. The Trump Administration will not tie the hands of our brave law enforcement, and instead trusts them to use common sense." The policy to avoid sensitive locations like schools and churches had been in place since 2011. Trump's first four years in office were a rehearsal, Leandry said. "Now we know it's going to be different. … We're going to feel it a lot worse than the four years we experienced," he said. The Associated Press contributed to this report. Contact Carissa Woytach at (440) 329-7245 or cwoytach@chroniclet.com.