“It has not been easy to be separated from my family, unable to see them, or even a touch from my kids or wife, without being able to attend church and be with people who love me,” Reyes wrote in a letter to his fellow West Charleston Church of the Brethren members. “I have cried at night asking God to give me strength.”
Reyes’ case has been at the center of a few protests outside Butler County Jail and a call upon the Butler County commission to reconsider the county’s ICE contract.
Reyes was called by an ICE officer in April. He was told to come to ICE’s office in Blue Ash to have an ankle monitor removed — not for criminal activity, but for electronic monitoring by ICE, which uses ankle monitors to track people living in the U.S. who lack a legal immigration status.
When Reyes arrived for his appointment, he was detained and transferred to Butler County Jail, the region’s ICE detention center. Reyes was in the country with ICE’s permission, as his partner and their two children were pursuing an asylum case, and federal policy allowed families to stay together.
“I think most Americans want things to be done in a respectful way,” West Charleston Church of the Brethren co-pastor Irvin Heishman said. “And I think if people realized that this policy is breaking up good families, leaving women to care for their children without their spouse, I don’t think most Americans would be very happy with that.”
What’s happening in Southwest Ohio?
Federal funding and disabilities: Federally funded programs that investigate abuse, ensure voting access and provide education and job support for people with developmental disabilities in Ohio are the target of U.S. Department of Health and Human Services budget cuts. A Fairborn resident told Dayton Daily News that the reduction of these programs, as well as proposed cuts to Medicaid and the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, will disproportionately impact people with disabilities.
Refugee resettlement: Dayton celebrated World Refugee Day last weekend — the first recognized since the Refugee Resettlement Program was halted by the Trump administration. Catholic Social Services of the Miami Valley is contracted for refugee resettlement program services in the Dayton region. A Catholic Social Services representative said that although the region cannot accept new refugees due to the federal pause, support can continue for refugees who were here before January.
Other federal updates
Iran, Israel and the U.S.: Days after the U.S. entered Iran and Israel’s conflict by dropping bombs on two Iranian nuclear program sites and Iran retaliated with a missile strike on a U.S. military base in Qatar, a fragile ceasefire between Iran and Israel appeared to hold this week after initially faltering. President Donald Trump expressed frustration with both sides, saying they had fought “for so long and so hard” that they do not know what they are doing. Trump said that American and Iranian officials will talk next week, but Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei warned against any further U.S. attacks on Thursday in his first public comments since a ceasefire was declared.
Ohio lawmakers react: But Ohio leaders had mixed reactions across social media to the U.S.’s involvement in the overseas conflict, some praising the military action and others questioning the constitutionality of the decision, which was not authorized by Congress before it occurred.
IRS cuts: The budget bill championed by the Trump administration could complicate next year’s tax filing season after the Internal Revenue Service lost one-quarter of its employees through staffing cuts, according to a National Taxpayer Advocate report. According to the report by the watchdog group, the IRS workforce has fallen from 102,113 workers to 75,702 over the past year.
Trump and NATO: After less than 24 hours on the ground in the Netherlands during NATO’s summit, Trump headed back home with a major policy change he’s pushed for since 2017 — a significant boost in defense spending by other NATO countries whom the president has for years accused of freeloading off the United States. NATO was in Dayton for its Parliamentary Assembly last month.
Ukraine: In their first face-to-face session since April, Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, during the NATO summit, discussed the possibility of Kyiv producing drones with American companies and buying U.S. air defense systems. Trump suggested that increased spending by the trans-Atlantic alliance could help prevent future Russian aggression against its neighbors.
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