CLEVELAND HEIGHTS, OH, October 30, 2025: Cleveland Heights for Immigrant Rights announced today that both candidates for mayor and three of six city council candidates have endorsed the organization’s proposal for immigrant residents facing detention or deportation. All candidates were sent a survey to indicate their level of support for the proposal. Six of eight candidates responded.
The proposal would establish funding to provide legal representation to Cleveland Heights residents at risk of detention or deportation, as well as legal clinics for immigrants seeking advice on immigration matters. Legal services would be provided by a private attorney under contract with the city. Legal clinics would be held at the Cleveland Heights City Hall or Community Center.
“We are thrilled to see our local leaders stand up with our immigrant neighbors,” said Sheila Keller, a member of Cleveland Heights for Immigrant Rights. “Legal representation can be the difference between a family staying together or being torn apart. With legal representation, immigrants are ten times more likely to win their court cases. This proposal represents the values of compassion and inclusion that have long defined Cleveland Heights.”
Jim Petras, a current Cleveland Heights city council member and candidate for mayor, promised that, if elected, he will “make the passing of this proposal a top priority from day one” and that he will “look for additional ways to protect immigrants.” He is ready to see the city move forward with the proposal: “As a next step, I would like to see the Public Health and Safety Committee request that the Law Department research Cleveland Heights for Immigrant Rights’ proposal so that we can define the parameters of a program and draft legislation.”
Davida Russell, who is also a current Cleveland Heights city council member and candidate for mayor, also endorsed the proposal. If elected, she promised to “support the proposal and look for additional ways to protect immigrants.” She also identified “next steps” as getting input from the Cleveland Heights’ Law Director and city administrators and “holding a community forum to get input from residents.”
Cleveland Heights for Immigrant Rights is organizing a forum, a “teach-in” that will bring together local and regional experts to discuss the challenges immigrants are facing, the impacts of the Trump Administration’s war on immigrants, and how to organize a resistance. “We know that our strength as a community comes from standing together,” said Jamie Hickner, a member of Cleveland Heights for Immigrant Rights. “The teach-in will be an opportunity for the entire community to learn more about what’s needed to support immigrants and to honor their contributions to our community and across the country. We’ll hear from a wide range of immigration experts and community advocates about what it will take for Cleveland Heights to live up to its welcoming values.”
In addition to the endorsements by the two mayoral candidates, three of six Cleveland Heights City Council candidates endorsed the group’s legal representation proposal.
Adam Dew, a city council candidate, endorsed the proposal and promised to support it if elected. He explained why the issue is so important to him: “This proposal speaks directly to the core of what a majority of Cleveland Heights stands for: every person deserves due process and justice. I lived in Chicago for 20 years. My kids were born in Humboldt Park and Irving Park, two of Chicago’s neighborhood’s currently under assault by representatives of our government. I’m livid. And here in Cleveland Heights, we need to prepare for the day they show up again for more of our neighbors. Their last visit to Cilantro should be all the warning we need.”
Joseph DeWitt-Foy, another city council candidate, also endorsed the proposal and promised his support. He explained why this issue is so important to him: “Cleveland Heights should be a safe and welcoming community for all. The proposal to help provide legal counsel to those unable to afford it is a reasonable step to ensuring due process for our neighbors.” DeWitt-Foy wants to learn more about how the proposed project will operate, but he says if elected, he will “look forward to discussing how the city can best support all our neighbors through these difficult times.”
Anthony Mattox, a current Cleveland Heights City Council member and candidate, promised to make the proposal a “top priority from day one.” He committed to seeking additional ways to protect immigrants, explaining that he is “in total support of this issue.” Mattox argued that Cleveland Heights needs to live up to its own ideals: “Cleveland Heights leads. We don’t lead from a place of fear. If we are going to say that ‘all are welcome,’ they also need to be ‘safe’ and ‘protected.’”
Two remaining city council candidates, Interim Mayor Tony Cuda and City Council member Craig Cobb, did not respond to three emailed requests, over two weeks, that they complete the survey.
The final city council candidate, Jessica Cohen, completed the survey but said she “cannot endorse the proposal” at this stage. She shared that immigration and the right to due process are very important to her. “As a grandchild and great grandchild of immigrants, everything I have here in the U.S. is due to the fact that my family was welcomed to America as immigrants and we were able to thrive and succeed. Support of immigration is deeply personal to me.” She also said that she “supports the idea of the [legal defense] program,” and that, if elected, she will “advocate for answers to understand the viability of the program and any potential impacts on the city.”
CH4IR formed after the Jan. 26 ICE raid on Cilantro Taqueria, a Coventry Village restaurant. Six employees were arrested by ICE that day and detained at the Geauga County Safety Center, an ICE detention facility. ICE did not present judicial warrants for any of the detained. The group began researching nationwide immigration policies and practices in the spring, developing an eight-point proposal for citywide support of immigrants. The legal defense proposal is one of those eight points. In addition to its legislative initiatives, the group has the group has organized Know Your Rights trainings at numerous Cleveland Heights businesses, organized a defense network to protect immigrants from illegal actions by ICE, networked with dozens of local leaders to promote a pro-immigration movement, and collaborated with other immigration rights groups across Northeast Ohio, including groups organizing legal defense in other cities.