Overview:
Springfield residents are raising concerns about their physical safety as ICE vehicles pursue motorists and conduct enforcement operations in residential neighborhoods, near businesses and in areas where children walk and play.
SPRINGFIELD, Ohio — On the afternoon of Wednesday, Aug. 26, an eyewitness said they saw six SUVs carrying ICE officers pursuing a green car along Limestone Street.
The witness, who asked not to be named for fear of retribution, said the car stopped in front of Rally’s fast food store and the driver jumped out and fled on foot. U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents chased him, forced him to the ground and placed him in handcuffs, the witness said.
They then took the man into custody, leaving the green car behind with its door open. A tow truck later removed it.
The encounter came amid growing concern from residents about ICE vehicles pursuing motorists and driving aggressively through Springfield’s streets and neighborhoods.
Just three days later, another encounter unfolded at the BP gas station near North Limestone Street and Home Road.
According to an eyewitness, ICE agents rammed a vehicle before taking its driver into custody. A passenger in the car was able to get away safely.
The episodes have added a new dimension to the fear surrounding immigration enforcement in Springfield. For many Haitian residents, concern is no longer limited to whether they or a relative could be detained or deported.
Residents say they also worry about the physical danger posed to motorists, pedestrians and children as enforcement operations unfold on city streets and inside residential neighborhoods.
‘Prisoners in their own homes’
Residents at Stone Crossing Apartments in Springfield and others say they are particularly concerned about what they described as ICE vehicles driving at high speeds through the neighborhoods, where children play and walk to school.
During a City Council meeting Aug. 25, several residents beseeched the town’s leaders to curb ICE’s tactics, which have intensified fear to the point that many children are not allowed outside or able to get to school.
“It should be everyone’s concern that parents are too scared to walk their children to school,” said a resident named Laura George, in asking the town to consider alternate transportation options.
“They’re scared they could be followed by ICE while their children are away. They’re scared they will be separated [from] their children, and even worse, they are scared their children could be left abandoned.”
Another meeting speaker, Erin Armstrong, was among those who pointedly called out ICE’s tactics. Among her requests to the town were that ICE be unmasked and the local collaboration with ICE end.
“ICE is in our city, terrorizing our neighbors and friends, keeping our children’s friends hunkered down inside their homes when they should be excitedly attending their first days of the school year,” Armstrong said. “Our federal government has sent a group of armed and masked thugs with unlimited resources and no accountability.”
Residents in Springfield echo similar debates taking place across the country as bystanders raise the alarm on ICE’s enforcement tactics in their neighborhoods.
Earlier this year, Newark, New Jersey’s Mayor Ras Baraka criticized agents after an ICE pursuit ended in a multi-vehicle crash that included a vehicle carrying three children.
In Detroit, city officials likewise called on the administration to halt high-speed ICE pursuits after two crashes in residential neighborhoods, arguing that the operations “risked the safety of Detroiters.”
In July, ICE ordered enforcement officers to stop vehicle pursuits nationwide, but was later reversed by the administration.
