{"id":25880,"date":"2026-05-27T14:40:12","date_gmt":"2026-05-27T14:40:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/laprensanewspaper.com\/?p=25880"},"modified":"2026-05-27T14:40:40","modified_gmt":"2026-05-27T14:40:40","slug":"immigration-in-wood-county-what-would-it-take-for-an-immigrant-to-feel-safe-in-wood-county","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/laprensanewspaper.com\/index.php\/2026\/05\/27\/immigration-in-wood-county-what-would-it-take-for-an-immigrant-to-feel-safe-in-wood-county\/","title":{"rendered":"Immigration in Wood County: What would it take for an immigrant to feel safe in Wood County?"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Colette C\u00f3rdova<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

By Colette C<\/strong>\u1f79rdova<\/strong><\/p>\n

(Bowling Green, OH, May 23, 2026)- What would it take for an immigrant to feel safe in Wood County? About 25 people, including Sheriff Mark Wasylyshyn, had a peaceful, civil discussion about the experiences that the Latin Community, immigrant or not, has in Wood County.\u00a0 Facts about the Sheriff Department\u2019s relationship with ICE were also spelled out.<\/p>\n

On May 20, 2026, at 6 p.m., the First Presbyterian Church in Bowling Green, Ohio, hosted a community conversation that had 5 or so Hispanics sprinkled in to discuss immigration with Sheriff Mark Waslynshyn. Kathleen Baldoni of Perrysburg Persists<\/em> organized the event with Lucia Myers, the Executive Director of La <\/em>Conexi\u00f3n<\/em>. The Sheriff gave a short bio of himself, stating he grew up in Rossford, worked for the Perrysburg Police Department for 14 years, and was elected as the Wood County Sheriff in 2004. He is now in his 21st<\/sup> year. The Sheriff even went on to say he was the son of an immigrant father from Ukraine, and when he grew up, they spoke Ukrainian at home. In essence, implying affinity with the issue at hand.<\/p>\n

The Sheriff wanted everyone in the room to know that his number one job is to \u201cpreserve the peace.\u201d If a village or city in Wood County needed assistance in keeping the peace, one of his deputies could step in. He stated that he can respond to situations that are ruled by state or local laws, but not federal, as that is out of his jurisdiction. He mentioned he runs the Wood County Jail in Bowling Green, which has received 100% on its inspections since he has been Sheriff. The Sheriff presented as affable, easy to get along with, and proud of his record.<\/p>\n

The issue at hand is what the Sheriff Department\u2019s relationship is with ICE, and more importantly, with immigrants. Kathleen explained the three types of 287(g) agreements that police\/sheriff departments could have with ICE, which is housed at the United States Department of Homeland Security. Below are more details on types of 287(g) agreements.<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. Warrant Service Office Model<\/strong>– Purpose:<\/u> Enables local law enforcement to execute ICE Administrative warrants. Authority:<\/u> Officers are trained and authorized to serve warrants on individuals already in custody. Focus:<\/u> Limited to executing warrants without the authority to interrogate individuals about their immigration status.<\/li>\n
  2. Jail Enforcement Model<\/strong>– Purpose<\/u>: Allows local law enforcement to identify and process noncitizens in custody. Authority:<\/u> \u00a0Deputized officers can interrogate individuals about their immigration status and issue immigrant detainers. Focus:<\/u> \u00a0Primarily operates within jails and correctional facilities<\/li>\n
  3. Task Force Model<\/strong>– Purpose:<\/u> Allows local law enforcement to enforce immigration laws during routine police activities. Authority:<\/u> Officers can question and arrest individuals suspected of violating immigration laws. Focus:<\/u> Broadest form of collaboration, effectively turning local police into ICE agents.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    \"\"<\/a>These 287(g) agreements can undermine community trust as it deters immigrants from contacting local police to report crimes or seek help in an emergency, thus harming public safety.<\/p>\n

    The audience was happy to hear that Wood County currently has no <\/strong>287(g) agreements with ICE. The Sheriff also stated that ICE had not called the Sheriff at any time to check on anyone\u2019s immigration status. Someone asked if his deputies were to stop someone for an infraction, while driving without a license, how would they handle it? The Sheriff stated, \u201cIf the driver has no ID and doesn\u2019t speak English, we need to know who they are to issue a citation, so we bring them to the jail, fingerprint them to find out who they are. Fingerprinting can take 1-2 days for results so they are held in jail until they can go to a court for a judge to decide what happens to them.\u201d He also stated that they contact ICE to see if they have any interest in the person. They will put a \u201chold\u201d on the immigrant only if they get an order from a judge. They do not honor a \u201cdetainer\u201d if requested from ICE.\u00a0 When they are scheduled to be released from jail, and there is a detainer, they won\u2019t hold them past their release time. (Note:<\/strong> A hold order by a judge means that an individual cannot be released from custody because there are pending charges or warrants from another jurisdiction. This order ensures that the person remains detained until those legal matters are solved.) He also stated they do not work with Administrative Warrants that ICE issues, only Judicial Warrants issued and signed by a judge. In a follow-up conversation, the Sheriff explained to Kathleen Baldoni that the jail administrator told him that they never call ICE unless a person is wanted for a serious crime.<\/p>\n

    After legal matters were discussed, this writer asked a question of the Sheriff. (Note: Although now a Toledo resident, I was raised in Perrysburg, attended Bowling Green State University, and worked 5 years in Bowling Green, thus very familiar with Wood County.) I asked the Sheriff if he thought the Latin Community in Wood County felt safe. I went on to say that my father, a brown immigrant who resided in Perrysburg, received a call about 14 years ago when he was about 88 years of age and in the middle of the night, harassing him and telling him to go back to Mexico. (My father is from Ecuador.) Additionally, I continued to explain about an incident that he experienced when he was driving my mother to a student\u2019s house in Perrysburg Heights who had had a fire. He was stopped by the township police without cause. He kept asking why he was being stopped and that he knew his rights. They asked him to get out of the car, and he would not. They eventually tried to pull him through the window and called the city police for backup. The city police recognized him and said, \u201cWhat are you doing? That\u2019s Judge C\u1f79rdova.\u201d (My mother, a white, third-generation resident of Perrysburg, had tears in her eyes when she told me the story when I was home from college that summer.) During the meeting, the Sheriff asked me my dad\u2019s name and said he knew him when he worked at the Perrysburg Police Department and even remembered two of his last cars. He said, \u201cI knew your dad, but I never knew he didn\u2019t feel safe.\u201d This acknowledgement to me indicates the Sheriff is willing to learn more about the depth of what the brown, Latin Community is feeling right now, with or without documentation.\u00a0 All are feeling at risk. I added at one point that all we are asking for is due process. We all see what is happening throughout the country, the brutality of masked ICE officers, and we want to prevent that from happening locally.<\/p>\n

    The Executive Director of La Conexi\u00f3n<\/em> said they have received many requests for transportation. This is because the community is afraid that they will be stopped by the police for minor infractions and targeted because they are brown. More people from the Latin Community then began to speak up at the meeting.\u00a0 Dr. Linda Alvarado-Arce, editor of La Prensa, brought up future solutions, information on current activities at the border, and the continuation of the building of federal, for-profit prisons.<\/p>\n

    The First Presbyterian Church minister, Reverend Dr. Jeffrery A. Schooley, asked one final question, saying that the Sheriff was taking the heat for a lot of what has gone on with ICE in the country. He asked him directly, \u201cWhat are the key takeaways you have learned from this event?\u201d The Sheriff replied, \u201cCommunication\u201d is the key to resolution.<\/p>\n

    The event\u2019s intent was also to help the Sheriff\u2019s Department to understand the anxiety in the Hispanic Community (both for those who possess and those who do not have the required documentation) due to the national assault on the immigrant community and their children, predominantly by ICE. The Hispanic community should not have to live in fear of everyday activities. As we continue the dialogue, we would like to see the Wood County Sheriff\u2019s Department consider the following:<\/p>\n