PHOTO BY CHUCK HOVEN

Friday, January 9, 2026; Candlelight vigil in memory of Renee Good, Market Square Park, W. 25^th and Lorain Avenue: A protester shares his view of the true nature of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents.

by Bruce Checefsky

   Across Cleveland, reports of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agent sightings and raids have flooded social media, describing everything from suspicious Sports Utility Vehicles (SUVs) cruising neighborhoods and staging in public school parking lots to stories about people getting pulled over and detained. Despite efforts by the Cleveland Division of Police (CDP) to identify and document ICE activities, a press release issued by City Hall on January 14 contradicts the sightings.

   “The Cleveland Division of Police (CDP) has reviewed multiple reported ICE sightings and, to date, has found no evidence of ICE raids in Cleveland. While not federally required, we have not been notified that ICE is conducting any immigration-related operations within the city,” said Division of Police Sgt. Wilfredo Diaz.

   “It’s also important to note that CDP officers will never ask about an individual’s immigration status,” Diaz continued. “CDP is tasked with protecting public safety, and while they will take action against anyone who commits violent crimes, they are not responsible for enforcing general federal immigration law.”

   In a request for more clarity on ICE activities included in the CPD statement, a spokesperson for the City issued the following response: “The best ones to answer further questions about their operations would be ICE themselves. We encourage all Clevelanders to learn more about their rights and access the support they need. Helpful resources available include the Cuyahoga County Welcome Center and Health and Human Services, Global Cleveland, Re:Source Cleveland, and the Legal Aid Society of Cleveland.”

   People widely recognize that ICE frequently restricts, rather than facilitates, independent media coverage and public oversight.

   Paul (last name withheld for safety) shared a story with this reporter about an incident in the Clark-Fulton neighborhood, a historically rich Puerto Rican area near MetroHealth Hospital, that took place on January 15, the day following the CPD press release.

   “I was driving along West 44th to Sackett Avenue when I witnessed two separate incidents within four minutes of each other. Four dudes popped out of an SUV wearing masks and flak jackets. A few minutes later, five more unmarked black SUVs appeared. The car in front of me tried to back up. I blew my horn to get her attention, and just then, a big dude wearing a bulletproof vest and mask, with guns hanging out of every pocket, told me to take another route because it was ‘going to take a while.’

   “They had the entire street blocked,” he added. “Then I saw a bunch of guys on the porch trying to get in the house.”

   CPD has denied any raids but has not commented on ICE sightings. Confusion between unmarked SUVs, trucks, and vans and nondescript police cars causes residents to face retribution by the federal law enforcement agency if they speak out. Coming forward is dangerous for immigrants because of the fear of deportation, detention, or family separation, but advocates say it’s necessary to protect rights.

   In the West Boulevard neighborhood, a woman who asked not to be identified said she has copies of her birth certificate and her mother’s ready and within reach, just in case. She’s terrified. And on the Near West Side, authorities have not confirmed that ICE raided the May Dugan Center in the Ohio City neighborhood despite a first-person account that the event took place. Executive Director Andy Trares did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

At the public-school level, the Cleveland Metropolitan School District (CMSD) released a letter to parents last fall addressing the raids in Northeast Ohio by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, promising to provide a secure environment for learning regardless of background or immigration status. The urban school district saw absentee rates spike as Border Patrol agents began enforcement in and around Cleveland.

   “We understand that families may have concerns about law enforcement inquiries or actions on school grounds. Please know that CMSD follows clear protocols, grounded in district policy and federal and state law, to ensure that any such interactions occur in a manner that minimizes disruption to our students’ education,” said the Cleveland Metropolitan School District.

   “We are also actively reviewing and reinforcing our protocols with school leaders and our safety and security teams to ensure we remain vigilant and prepared.”

   On the statewide political front, U.S. Sen. Jon Husted (R-OH) urged people not to interfere with immigration operations after a federal agent shot and killed 37-year-old Renee Good in Minneapolis. “The president said he would conduct the largest deportation effort in the history of the country to fix the errors of the previous four years. That is an enormously complicated task,” said Husted in a virtual press conference. “ICE agents are moms and dads. Our neighbors they’re part of law enforcement that is there to keep people safe. And by and large, they do a really good job in accomplishing that.”

   Husted, a conservative Republican strongly aligned with President Trump, is seeking to win a full term after being appointed to fill the vacancy left by Vice President J.D. Vance’s resignation and faces Democrat Sherrod Brown in November 2026.

   Locally, U.S. House member Max Miller (R), who represents Ohio’s 7th district in Bay Village, wrote an op-ed in the Washington Times several months earlier calling for the National Guard to deploy to Cleveland.

   “My constituents in the suburbs are afraid to go into the city. The Cleveland I grew up in is now unrecognizable. Families no longer feel safe walking down the street, and small businesses are being boarded up,” said Miller. “The people I represent should be able to go to Guardians, Browns, or Cavs games without fearing for their lives. There is no higher duty of government than this.”

   Ayla Blumenthal, an immigration attorney at Margaret W. Wong & Associates, LLC, said there is no clear reporting agency and no central database for reporting ICE activities. Information is more community-driven with posts on social media like Facebook. Police are doing nothing on either side of the issue, she cautioned.

   “US citizens should carry a valid passport or passport card, birth certificate, or naturalization certificate,” she suggested. “Permanent residents should carry their green card and memorize an attorney’s phone number and consult an attorney if they are not sure of their immigration status.”

   International students with a visa status should have it with them. “It is very common for ICE to take passports from people from other countries. It is very hard to get them back,” said Blumenthal, “and often easier to get a new passport. Authorities could detain people without legal status for months, a year, or longer.”

   Laura Rodriguez-Carbone, a Puerto Rican and natural-born American citizen from Cleveland, got pulled over by ICE and detained and threatened for about half an hour. “It was one of the scariest experiences of my life,” she wrote in a description of the event on her Facebook page. “I did not think I would make it home.”

   “There is a critical gap in our public safety information,” she added to a Messenger request for more information on her experience, “where no single entity appears to be systematically tracking ICE enforcement activity in the Cleveland area.”

   “If local officials are monitoring these incidents, they are not sharing that information with the people. Community organizations have not coalesced around a coordinated response. We know ICE is operating here. What we don’t know is how they’re conducting enforcement, whether civil rights abuses are happening under a more shelled umbrella, or what pattern is emerging,” said the local strategist and humanist. “We may not be seeing the same level of aggression as other cities yet, but this is the same agency committing human rights abuses across the country. Cleveland residents feel scared; they want their elected officials actively protecting them, not keeping their heads down, hoping to avoid Trump’s attention.”

   Rodriquez-Carbone added, “That silence leaves our most vulnerable residents completely exposed while the rest of us pretend we are exempt from what is happening nationwide.”

   [Editor’s Note: This is a developing story.]