PHOTO BY BRUCE CHECEFSKY

Wednesday, February 4, 2026; Happy Dog takes on ICE, Happy Dog, W. 58^th and Detroit Avenue: L to R: Panelists included Patrick Espinosa, Managing Partner of Sus Abogados Latinos; and Lynn Tramonte, Executive Director of the Ohio Immigrant Alliance.

by Bruce Checefsky

   (Plain Press March 2026) The City Club of Cleveland, known as “America’s Citadel of Free Speech,” one of the oldest independent free speech forums in the United States since 1912, and the nationally celebrated Happy Dog indie rock venue have collaborated for over a decade on a long-running community series titled Happy Dog Takes on Everything.

   Their most recent forum addressed the escalation of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers conducting raids in Los Angeles, Chicago, Portland, and Minneapolis.

   Panelists included Patrick Espinosa, Managing Partner of Sus Abogados Latinos, and Lynn Tramonte, Executive Director of the Ohio Immigrant Alliance. Chris Schmitt, Chief Executive Officer of the Cleveland Metropolitan Bar Association, who acted as the moderator. It was standing room only.

   The Happy Dog is in the Gordon Square Arts District, one of the city’s most racially and economically diverse areas with significant Hispanic (24%) and African American (21%) populations as of 2026. The neighborhood remains a focal point for community monitoring of potential immigration enforcement activities.

   Following an introduction, Schmitt asked panelists to comment on whether the federal government, in pulling back on 700 agents leaving Minneapolis, with 2,000 agents still there, was yielding to public backlash following the killings of Renee Good on January 7 and Alex Pretti, a few weeks later, on January 24.

   Schmitt wanted to know if their actions were a purposeful distraction or whether ICE was turning its attention elsewhere.  

   “They are just going to send them somewhere else,” said Tramonte. “Congress gave them billions of dollars. This is the largest federal enforcement agency on target to become larger than the federal prison system.”

   She explained that immigration detention functions as a prison where no one faces criminal accusations.

   “It is a civil violation, where they sit in a criminal jail in Geauga, Mahoning, and Butler County, with prisoners serving a criminal sentence,” added Tramonte.

   The annual budget for ICE went from less than $6 billion to $85 billion in just ten years, as part of the One, Big, Beautiful Bill Act, a sweeping federal statute passed on a strictly partisan basis and signed into law on July 4, 2025.

   Espinosa said the public response is changing the administration’s tactics. Protests have led to the tragic deaths of Good and Petti and put the Trump administration on its heels.  

   “People have a voice, and that voice is loud and clear. The videos speak for themselves,” he said, referring to videos related to the fatal shootings.

   The audience applauded after Tramonte interrupted with, “White people got killed. That is why it matters now,” she continued. “We have a video of a black woman being pulled out and thrown onto the ground. We did not get the reaction that we are getting now from Republicans. It should not take so much violence to get people to wake up.”

   Authorities apprehended 5-year-old Liam Conejo Ramos and his father in their Minnesota driveway and transferred them to a Texas detention facility in January.

   Local officials alleged they used the child as bait, while the federal Department of Homeland Security (DHS) stated the operation targeted the father, who had a pending asylum claim. A federal judge’s ruling the following month released them.

   “Civics lesson to the government: Administrative warrants issued by the executive branch to itself do not pass probable cause muster. That is called the fox guarding the henhouse. The Constitution requires an independent judicial officer,” wrote Judge Samuel Frederick Biery Jr., of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas.

   Schmitt called the judicial decision a “backhand,” referring to a backhand slap.

   “It is well worth the three-minute read. His [Judge Biery Jr.] decision is just about as straightforward a slap as a judge can ever possibly give somebody in that arena,” he said.

   “Immigration officials are making people undocumented who have legal status,” said Tramonte when asked about the surge of interest in immigration policy. People who pay taxes are being arrested and held in jail, she added. “Their tactics include people who run businesses in our country, work with us, and we see at church. It is personal.”

   “Immigrants are more likely to be entrepreneurs,” said Espinosa. “They employ plenty of people, and those numbers are getting lost in the political propaganda.”

   Immigrants are being arrested and charged with civil offenses, not with reentry; immigration law is civil, said Tramonte. It is a misdemeanor, a criminal offense less serious than a felony but more severe than an infraction, typically punishable by fines, probation, community service, or up to one year in local county jail.

   “It is crazy that ICE is carrying guns and hiding their faces,” she said. “They look like SWAT teams. We never had that level of troops in our communities. They are at war with us.”

   The United States (U.S.) Supreme Court ruled last September, in a 6-3 decision, lifting a lower court’s restrictions on U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) operations in the Los Angeles area. The order allows ICE agents to make investigative stops based on factors that lower courts previously deemed to be racial profiling, such as apparent race or ethnicity, speaking Spanish or English with an accent, type of employment (e.g., landscaping, construction), and presence in specific locations (e.g., car washes, bus stops).

   “The ruling gives police and other federal immigration authorities the ability to pull over anyone who looks different,” said Espinosa. “For God’s sake. It is ridiculous.”

   Schmitt said people do not get the system. When detained, they do not know what to do next.

   Espinosa explained that rather than sit in jail waiting for a hearing, which could take months or a year, possibly longer, the change in policy makes it difficult for the detainee to get their day in court, so they take deportation instead.

   “I own a local landscaping company,” said Jackie Young, owner of Ohio Native Landscapes, during the Q&A session, “and the landscaping workforce is over 50% immigrants. What can we do to advocate for those people? Should we have a plan if ICE comes here?”

   “You should have a plan. Have a private place in your business where ICE agents cannot go; use code words to mobilize people into those spaces,” offered Espinosa. “Do not run. Create a safe space for your employees.”

   For legal aid, contact the Ohio Immigrant Alliance at 419-777-4357.

   The City Club of Cleveland full podcast is at https://www.cityclub.org/inc/audio-player.php?event_id=2177