Ohio is being asked to pay for its own economic slowdown. An Economic Policy Institute analysis estimates the average Ohio taxpayer will owe about $1,670 to help fund the federal government's mass-deportation campaign — a cost that comes on top of the toll deportations take on our state's workforce.

Immigrants aren't a small part of Ohio's economy. They make up roughly 16% of personal-care aides, 9% of transportation and warehousing workers, and significant shares of manufacturing, agriculture, and construction crews statewide. Pulling these workers out of the labor force means longer waits for home care, delayed construction projects, and higher prices for everyone else.

Federal detention data show enforcement in Ohio reaching far beyond violent offenders — the vast majority of people detained had no violent criminal record. That's not a narrowly targeted public-safety effort; it's a broad sweep that destabilizes families, businesses, and the tax base Ohio needs to grow.

Gov. Mike DeWine has already acknowledged that Ohio needs immigrants to fill its workforce gaps. It's time for him, JobsOhio, and Ohio's congressional delegation to say so clearly and act on it — by pushing for legal work channels, dependable seasonal-worker programs, and a real path to legal status for long-settled Ohioans without serious criminal records.

Ohio taxpayers shouldn't have to spend nearly $6.9 billion to make our own state smaller, weaker, and short on workers. Sign the petition to urge Gov. DeWine, JobsOhio, and Ohio's congressional delegation to protect Ohio's workforce and stop policies that cost Ohio jobs, businesses, and tax dollars.