Amanda Crouse
News Editor
On Monday, Jan. 19, in observation of Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, students were encouraged to participate in and start conversations about prescient social issues. In the morning, a prayer breakfast and opening ceremony were held in Kittredge Hall to allow students and faculty a place to gather and begin the holiday on a thoughtful note. Justice Dialogues took place throughout the afternoon, with faculty members presenting talks on philosophical, political and religious topics that echoed the activism of Dr. King.
One of the dialogues, titled “Understanding Today’s Immigration Crisis,” was hosted at 1 p.m. in Ruth Williams Hall by Erika Vallejo and Michele Leiby, both professors in the political science department. Over 70 people, including students, faculty and community members, attended the talk.
Leiby began the presentation by breaking down immigration statistics and addressing misconceptions about rates of legal versus illegal immigration. She stated that the majority of the United States’ immigrants (which make up 15% of the U.S. population) have legal status to live in the country. Asylum seekers comprise 27% of the immigrant population –– although the path to being granted asylum is long and difficult to traverse, Leiby said. The rejection rate of asylum applications is approximately 80% nationwide, with Ohio’s rejection rate ranging from 71 to 88%.
Leiby also shared that immigrants undergoing deportation proceedings are not granted the same rights as U.S. citizens. For example, defendants have a right to legal counsel, but are not entitled to court-appointed representation. There are also no concrete regulations regarding evidence admissibility, and hearsay can be admitted as evidence against a defendant.
Next, Vallejo talked about immigration detention centers. There are 132 recorded detention centers in the U.S., but Vallejo admitted that this number is likely lower than the actual statistic because many local jails operate as ad-hoc immigration holding centers without disclosing such operations at a federal level. An estimated 50,000 people are currently detained in the 132 reported facilities –– but again, an accurate head-count would likely yield a far higher number than that shared by the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency (ICE). The majority of ICE detainees (71%) have never been convicted of a criminal offense, while many of those with criminal records have been convicted of minor, non-violent offenses.
Vallejo cited human rights abuses in major detention facilities. A detention center in Fort Bliss, Texas, for example, has been accused of depriving inmates of food and access to hygiene products and inflicting physical and sexual abuse on inmates. In 2025, 32 detainees died in ICE custody.
At the end of the presentation, Leiby answered the question of “What can we do?” by sharing resources through which individuals can contact their local and state representatives to object to ICE detention conditions and the immigration enforcement authority granted to law enforcement.
Next, Britz Ruiz ’27 and Andrea Peralta-Villa ’27, co-presidents of Latinas Unidas, spoke about their personal experiences with anti-immigrant sentiment and the harm caused by ICE’s presence in Latinx communities.
Finally, attorney Brian Hoffman of the Ohio Center for Strategic Immigration Litigation and Outreach answered questions from the audience regarding human rights protections for immigrants and the powers of ICE. Hoffman, Leiby and Vallejo all discouraged attendees from slipping into an attitude of apathy or numbness in the face of overwhelming unrest. They passed around fliers with information on citizens’ rights when interacting with immigration law enforcement, and left a stack of postcards by the doors for people to take and send to local representatives or family members.
