Immigration Reform 2014: Ohio Police Chief Defends Undocumented Immigrants

Without a doubt these are difficult times for undocumented immigrants living in the United States.

With almost 2 million deportations, President Obama's administration has expelled more people than any other in recent times, according to a recent investigation by The New York Times.

Despite this, the voice of almost 12 million immigrants is being heard through civil organizations, as well as individuals and politicians who have made a difference in the families living in fear of being separated.

Such is the case of Celestino Rivera, the chief of police of the city of Lorain, Ohio, who has managed to prevent the city's undocumented immigrants from being deported due to minor infractions, one of the most common causes for people without a criminal record to be deported.

According to Maribel Hastings of The Huffington Post, the police force of Lorain collaborate with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Border Patrol regularly, notifying them when an undocumented driver got an infraction, which in most cases meant the driver would be deported.

Rivera, of Puerto Rican origins, would later comment that he was not aware of these practices. However, these practices which made community group HOLA organize to provide counseling for immigrants.

The stories he heard there made Rivera change his perspective regarding the immigration issue.

"I heard like nine stories of how my policemen and other Lorain county policemen stopped them for minor infractions and called ICE and Border Patrol and ended up being deported, and it broke my heart to hear those stories. It was emotional. I didn't sleep... By eight in the morning I had already written the order to keep my agents from ever calling ICE or Border Patrol. That is not our job. Two weeks later, the order was made permanent in our manual," the Chief told the reporter.

A difficult job

Rivera's efforts allowed hundreds of immigrants living in the city to feel safer without the fear of being deported for minor infractions, which also gave them the confidence of reporting a crime to the police, something very unusual in the past, as they feared being handed over to immigration authorities.

However, after seven months of applying these measures, the road has not been easy and Rivera's efforts have not been welcomed everywhere.

The chief of police said that individuals and groups from the county have expressed their discontent with these actions has even received hate messages, but Rivera will continue.

"The other thing I did was send our new order to other departments in Lorain County, although I have to say there hasn't been much reception. I made a meeting with other chiefs and invited HOLA so that they could hear the humane side of the story so they could adopt the measures too," said Rivera.

In the chief's opinion, the separation of families due to deportations is a drama which is becoming too common.

"This is happening more and more and not just in our county, but in others, in Cleveland (Cuyahoga County), Painesville and Mentor, in Lake County, where they're detained for trivial offenses. They're detained for an hour, an hour and a half, until ICE comes for them and they're taken to facilities four hours away," Rivera said.

Despite the unfavorable climate for immigrants in the U.S., Celestino Rivera's actions show that many people are willing to do the right thing, an effort that no matter how small it is, it's still important.