Your Morning Matters: Ohio advocates helped immigrants detained in Youngstown

Good morning and welcome to your Morning Matters — with "Editor 2.0" Justin Dennis.

It's Friday, Nov. 19, 2021, and today we're featuring the best kind of stories: the ones about people. We're reporting today about two Ohio advocates who helped some of the hundreds of undocumented immigrants detained and released from Youngstown's private prison make their way home.

Where are the helpers? When those detainees — mostly asylum seekers — were dropped off at Youngstown's bus station with little else aside from a ticket bought by someone else, Katie Salupo of Youngstown sourced supplies. When no one would speak for them in court, social worker Shari Nacson of Cleveland prepared documents to help their asylum cases. Their stories are featured in a new anthology book from Ohio Immigration Alliance.

Why does this matter to the Valley? Until earlier this year, Youngstown's privately operated prison, the Northeast Ohio Correctional Center, had the largest immigrant detainee population in the state. A presidential order earlier this year ended the prison's detainment contract with ICE.

There's more at play: Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost on Thursday announced he and AGs from Montana and Arizona are suing the Department of Homeland Security to stop new immigration guidelines they feel are too lax and conflict with federal law.

We've seen this before: The new federal guidelines Yost opposes, announced in September, recognize that most of the country's 11 million undocumented or deportable noncitizens "have been contributing members of our communities across the country for years."

• Sound familiar? Palestinian man Amer "Al" Adi Othman lived in the U.S. for 39 years — and ran Downtown Circle in Youngstown — before his unexpected deportation in 2018. He rejoined his Youngstown family just two months ago, and is now getting back to work.

Read MORE on Salupo and Nacson's stories from reporter Amanda Joerndt.

Have a great weekend! You'll see Editor Mark Sweetwood back in this space all next week.

Pandemic facts

• In the U.S.: 47,528,607 confirmed cases; 768,658 deaths, according to Johns Hopkins University & Medicine at 9 p.m. Nov. 18.
• In Ohio: 1,627,051 confirmed or suspected cases; 25,813 deaths.
• In Pennsylvania: 1,666,724 confirmed cases; 32,729 deaths.
• In the Mahoning Valley: 33,543 confirmed or suspected cases in Mahoning County; 25,184 in Trumbull; and 15,724 in Columbiana.
• Dow Jones Industrial Average: Closed at 35,870.95, down 60.10 points, or 0.17%.

Other matters

Attorney David Betras got a lot of feedback to last week's Your Legal Rights column about critical race theory. And one thoughtful writer "reminded me that slavery, in the form of human trafficking, continues to cast a dark and disturbing shadow across the United States." He discusses "the human toll exacted by trafficking" today. Mahoning Matters

From the Youngstown Playhouse's production of "Marjorie Prime" to One Hot Cookie's Holiday Open House to Santa's arrival at the Southern Park Mall, this is a big weekend to kick off the holiday season in the Valley. Mahoning Matters

The first human trial for a potential nasal vaccine that could prevent or slow the progress of Alzheimer's disease is set to start soon. Mahoning Matters

Boardman High School's marching band was supposed to play in Chicago's Thanksgiving Day parade. Instead, because of COVID-19 protocols, they'll head to Detroit. WKBN

In a 4-3 decision, the Ohio Supreme Court on Wednesday rejected an appeal from Jacob Larosa who is serving a life sentence without parole for robbing, murdering and attempting to rape an elderly Niles woman when he was 15. WFMJ

SOBE Thermal Energy Systems LLC on Wednesday received approval from state regulators to take possession of Youngstown Thermal LLC. The Business Journal [May encounter paywall.]

After several years of back and forth negotiations, Canfield City Council, by a 4-0 vote, accepted an agreement between the city and the Public Works employees who belong to the Utility Workers United of America. The Vindicator [May encounter paywall.]

In case you missed it

When it comes to Mahoning County and the 2021 high school football playoffs, Ohio's other 87 counties are green with envy. In all, 56 teams are competing for the 28 regional crowns this weekend. Mahoning County still has four teams alive. Mahoning Matters

Event of the day

The Youngstown Playhouse's production of Jordan Harrison's "Marjorie Prime" will run two weekends beginning tonight. Showtimes are 7:30 tonight, Saturday and Nov. 26 and 27, and 2:30 p.m. Sunday and Nov. 28. Tickets are $18 for adults and $15 for seniors, students and military, including fees, and can be purchased here or by calling the box office at 330-788-8739 from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. weekdays.

To see what else is going on around the Mahoning Valley, check out Mahoning Matters' event calendar here, or click the Events tab on the top menu at mahoningmatters.com.

Story tips

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This story was originally published November 19, 2021 at 6:55 AM with the headline "Your Morning Matters: Ohio advocates helped immigrants detained in Youngstown."