Click, Santucci introduce America First Act

COLUMBUS – State Representatives Gary Click (R-Vickery) and Nick Santucci (R-Howland Twp.) have introduced the America First Act addressing issues of unlawful immigration within the state of Ohio. Speaking on the bill, Click provided the following statement:

“Ohioans are charitable, gracious, kind, and welcoming. However, we expect those who would join us to reciprocate by following our laws, including immigration laws. A State law such as Ohio’s America First Act cannot and does not supersede federal immigration policy but rather supports it. The America First Act only addresses immigration already determined to be unlawful on the federal level. The America First Act simply states that it is unlawful for unlawful immigrants to be in Ohio: ‘No person who is unlawfully present in the United States shall knowingly enter, attempt to enter, or be present in this state.’

The penalty for violating this law is a $500 fine and one year in jail. Penalties are increased on the second offence. In both instances, violators are required to leave the state within seventy-two hours of being released.

Reasonable provisions are made for those actively seeking an extension of their visa as well as those actively seeking refugee status.[1] This bill is not a “fix all” for all immigration related issues, nor can it be.[2] State level policies do not have the power to be comprehensive, but we can be complimentary.

The America First Act sends the message that we welcome lawful immigrants, and we value those who value America enough to knock and come through the front door. More than once, legal immigrants have come and expressed their gratitude for this great country and how offensive it is to them that others would disrespect our nation so much that they would enter in any way but the legal way. They take legitimate pride in the fact that they did it by the book. They did it the American way.

Illegal immigration forces migrants into the shadows while placing women and children at exceedingly high risk of human trafficking and sex crimes. Ohio has seen firsthand the loss of life and the loss of the innocence of a minor immigrant at the hands of an adult present in Ohio illegally. 

The relative ease at which migrants can bypass our laws diminishes the value of our citizenship and discourages a healthy immigration process. Ohio can do its part to support legal immigration by prioritizing those who follow the law and discouraging those whose very first act in America is to break the law from settling in Ohio.

Estimates suggest that 10 million illegal immigrants have entered the United States due to the Biden-Harris administration’s lawless border policies. With recent reports of more than 647,000 illegal immigrants suspected or convicted of homicide, sexual assault, and other horrendous crimes roaming free in the United States, it is imperative that Ohio affirms the rule of law in order to protect its citizens as well as those who seek to become citizens.”