Local
Columbus is arguing about “public safety” again — but this time, the debate isn’t happening in a City Council chamber or on the courthouse steps. It’s happening in the gap between two artifacts floating around the city like opposing flyers for the same event.
One is a statement on Fraternal Order of Police (Capital City Lodge #9) letterhead, signed by lodge president Brian Steel, insisting that while local law enforcement doesn’t have authority to enforce federal civil immigration laws, they still have an “absolute duty” to respond when federal partners ask for assistance — and that “public safety depends on cooperation.”
The other is a Facebook post from “West Columbus ICE Watch” (also calling itself Westgate ICE Watch), introducing itself as a neighborhood network formed because residents believe ICE activity is spreading, fear is rising, and people need a way to report sightings anonymously and share mutual-aid resources. The post says it plainly: they’re organizing because they don’t want “a repeat of history.”
ICE is on the streets of Columbus arresting people. Supposedly Columbus officials and police are not cooperating with ICE, and if true, this is good news.
But you need to tell your friends and family about what else your “elected” Columbus City Council has recently done. It would make President Trump proud.
In the greatest power-grab in Columbus history your City Council took revenge on the residents of German Village over side-walk improvements by changing the City Charter. Wait a minute… Doesn’t the city already update the City Charter once every ten years with a panel of citizens who make recommendations?
Correct. That’s how the City Charter is supposed to be updated in a rational democracy, but not Columbus.
Monday, December 22, 12-1:30pm
Bethel International Church, 1220 Bethel Road, Columbus 43220
The training will be led by Dr. Dorothy Hassan of the Columbus Ohio Rapid Response Network. Enter by the Family Life Center doors, around back under the awning.
Enter by the Family Life Center doors, around back under the awning.
You may invite others to attend this important training.
There is no need to register in advance.
Our hope is that after folks are trained they will have the opportunity to join a neighborhood ICE watch team.
We will send information out about that as soon as we have it.
ICE out of Columbus!
Date:
Sunday, December 21, 2025 - 3:00pm
Venue:
Westerville Skatepark, 455 Park Meadow Rd., Westerville, OH 43081
On December 19th, school let out early in Columbus, and children did what children always do. Kids walked home and waited in pickup lines expecting to go home with family for winter break and all the coming festivities of the holidays.
They slung backpacks over one shoulder. They checked their phones. They waited in pickup lines and walked familiar routes home, thinking about winter break, holidays, sleeping in, the small relief that comes with the end of exams. Some were already arguing with siblings over who would sit in the front seat. Some were texting parents they could see just down the road.
A car door opening is usually nothing. That day, it was everything.
ICE has got to go. That is the message Columbus residents have been sending since a couple hundred agents descended on the city and began to hunt people on the streets. They immediately began mobilizing neighborhood watches and alert systems, keeping agents awake all night at their hotels, and setting up food delivery chains.
4PM - DECEMBER 20, 2025
Columbus Liberation Center, 1004 Parsons Ave.
The people of Columbus are coming together to fight back against ICE’s assault on our immigrant neighbors and coworkers in a mass meeting held at the Columbus Liberation Center. Endorsed by organizations across Columbus, including the Council of American Islamic Relations (CAIR) Ohio, the Party for Socialism and Liberation, ICE Out of Cbus, Muslim American Society - Columbus, and local leaders like Rep. Munira Abdullahi, the meeting builds on the actions that community members have already taken against ICE since they descended on our city. We will discuss why and how we must organize to get ICE out of Columbus.
Olivia Rowland, an organizer with ICE Out of Cbus, said: “It’s clear that these ICE attacks, which follow President Donald Trump’s despicable comments regarding our Somali neighbors, are meant to cause fear and terror. The ruling class wants to divide us to distract us from the real issues facing all workers. This mass meeting will show that we are united, and we will fight back. We won’t stop until ICE is out of Columbus!”
Recorded at 6:00 PM EST today 12/18/2025, this footage shows the Hampton Inn and Suites on Stelzer Road in Columbus, which is reportedly housing an estimated 200 ICE, CBP and DHS agents.
These agents are rooming at this location while conducting street raids throughout the city — arresting people who are shopping, walking, working and even someone who was riding home from the food pantry on a bike.
The two white vans pictured are documented as being used in ICE raids and transport across the country. Additionally, four black SUVs and several other vehicles on-site match the specific makes and models used in photographs and videos of ICE arrests here in Columbus.
Video on substack: https://substack.com/@dissentinbloom/note/c-189424208
Additional reporting on Columbus area ICE raids:
One year into Trump 2.0, he’s gaining speed on his sled down the mountain.
“A Washington Post average of national polls so far in December found that 39 percent of Americans approve of the job Trump is doing, compared with 57 percent who disapprove. On the economy in particular, the average is slightly worse for Trump, with just 36 percent approving and 58 percent disapproving.” Karl Rove, George W. Bush’s consiglieri, and columnist for the Wall Street Journal cautions that unless Trump reverses course he is heading for an epic failure in the 2026 midterms.