Ohio immigration advocate: Homeland Security screwups aren't just silly, they're scary
Minister of Justice and Public Security Héctor Villatoro, right, accompanies Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, center during a tour of the CECOT prison on March 26, 2025 in Tecoluca, El Salvador. (Photo by Alex Brandon-Pool/Getty Images)
Some in Ohio are mocking an error-filled list of so-called 'sanctuary' jurisdictions that the Trump administration hurriedly took down on Sunday. But an advocate for immigrants in the state said the mistake-riddled list should be cause for alarm.
It named 500 states, cities and counties that were allegedly not doing their duty in helping federal officials enforce immigration law. However, it didn't say how.
The list included Warren County, northeast of Cincinnati, as a sanctuary county even though voters there went for Trump by a 65-33 margin on Nov. 5. The sheriff, Barry Riley, told WCPO television, 'This report is wrong. A mistake has been made and incorrectly listed Warren County. We have reached out to representatives of the Department of Homeland Security to correct the issue.'
Warren County might have made it onto the Homeland Security list because in 2021, Lebanon, the county seat, attempted to ban abortion by declaring itself 'a sanctuary for the unborn,' said Lynn Tramonte, founder of the Ohio Immigrant Alliance. She said other jurisdictions were mistakenly placed on the list after declaring themselves sanctuaries for gun owners.
'It's like they've got some intern with an AI program searching for the word 'sanctuary' and popping up a list of names of counties and cities,' Tramonte said. 'They're just sloppy.'
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Also drawing laughs is that the list spelled Ohio's oldest major city 'Cincinnatti' and a Kentucky county just over the river 'Cambell.' instead of Campbell. Officials in both jurisdictions told WCPO that they weren't violating any immigration laws.
The errors might be comical, but in context, they're really terrifying, Tramonte said.
'They took the list down because it was full of errors, and this is the Department of Homeland Security,' she said. 'They can't even get their spelling right. Everybody was making fun of Secretary (Kristi) Noem because she couldn't keep her purse safe, but this is another example. They can't publish a list of examples of cities in the United States and spell them correctly? How can we trust them to keep us safe?'
In April, Noem's purse, containing multiple IDs and thousands in cash, was stolen from a Washington, D.C. restaurant.
Noem has faced further criticism in her new role as head of the agency.
Habeas corpus is a fundamental right that dates at least back to the Magna Carta of 1215. It says that detained people have a right to appear before a judge and challenge their detention.
In a May congressional hearing, Noem got it exactly backward, saying, habeas corpus is 'a constitutional right that the president has to be able to remove people from this country and suspend their rights,' the Associated Press reported.
Tramonte said the Ohio immigrants she talks to are terrified as the Trump administration seeks to squeeze 'sanctuary' jurisdictions and deport ever more people — including hundreds of thousands who came legally. She said it's deeply unfair that they're trying to throw out people who came under a Biden-era program that allowed people to apply for asylum from outside the country.
'We told them, 'We don't want you showing up at the border seeking asylum,' even though that's a perfectly legal process,' she said. 'People in Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua and Venezuela said, 'OK, I'll find a sponsor in the United States, I'll request advance permission from the United States government to come. I'll fill out this form. My sponsor will show you all of their assets. They will promise to take care of me. I will not be a burden on the U.S. taxpayer. I'll come in an airplane, pay for my own ticket and get a house and a job.'
Those using the program followed the rules and now they're working and have kids in American schools, Tramonte said.
'And then Trump said, 'You've got to go,'' she added. 'If I'm from Haiti, what am I supposed to go back to? There's no government.'
Tramonte urged people to try to put themselves in immigrants' shoes.
'None of us did anything to earn the right to be born in the United States,' she said. 'It was an accident that we were born here. I just feel like we need to have a bit of compassion for people who were born in countries that are in turmoil.'
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