Beatty Issues Letter to DHS Secretary Noem and Acting Director of ICE Demanding Transparency on Columbus ICE Detainees

WASHINGTON, D.C. - In light of the recent ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement) killings in Minnesota, Congresswoman Beatty is holding ICE accountable and demanding full transparency for the Columbus community members that have been detained. Last week, Congresswoman Joyce Beatty (OH-03) issued a letter to Secretary Kristi Noem of the Department of Homeland Security and Acting Director of Immigration and Customs Enforcement Todd Lyons, condemning the recent surge of ICE activity and raids in Central Ohio.

"Since the start of "Operation Buckeye" on December 17, 2025, ICE officers have detained at least 214 people in the Columbus area - over 80% were Latinos and 10% were Black. These racially targeted raids began right before Christmas as a way to strike fear into the immigrant community and have largely targeted individuals without a criminal record. Furthermore, I have serious concerns surrounding the process and legal justification for this ICE operation," Congresswoman Beatty said in the letter.

"During this operation, ICE has claimed that individuals detained are the 'worst of the worst,' yet investigations and on-the-ground reporting from Columbus contradict this claim. ABC 6 discovered that the majority of the detainees they investigated had no criminal records. One report even found that on December 17, 2025, ICE agents allegedly detained two U.S. citizens and a Mexican immigrant with a valid work permit, including a woman with an 8-month old child, and all three of these individuals did not have a criminal record."

"Operation Buckeye is also specifically targeting sensitive locations as a way to increase fear and anxiety within the immigrant communities of central Ohio. There have been multiple first-hand reports of ICE targeting schools with large Hispanic populations. Furthermore, there has been a dramatic drop in attendance at churches and mosques as parishioners are afraid to attend," Congresswoman Beatty continued in the letter.

"Any operation of this scale demands full transparency regarding the legal basis and the status of those detained."

The full letter can be found HERE.

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