Cincinnati will create a Rapid Response Network to protect the city's immigrants and refugees from raids by U.S. Immigration Customs and Enforcement (ICE), Councilman P.G. Sittenfeld announced during a news conference on Thursday.

Sittenfeld filed a motion on July 17 to form the Rapid Response Network, which was signed by six council members including Sittenfeld. The other council members were Greg Landsman, Chris Seelbach, David Mann, Tamaya Dennard and Wendell Young.

Sittenfeld said he expects a vote on the legislation will take place during the first week of August and expects the council will vote unanimously to pass it.

"Because of the current occupant of the White House … we the City of Cincinnati need to be proactive when it comes to protecting members of our community,” Sittenfeld said. "If you pay our taxes, if you are raising your family here, if you are adding to the diversity of our neighborhoods – and all of our immigrant and refugee families are doing this – you’re absolutely a member of our community."

The Rapid Response Network will be led by the Immigrant and Refugee Law Center, a local non-profit designed to provide free legal aid to immigrant and refugee families.

According to the motion, the Rapid Response Network will focus on four specific areas in order to protect immigrant and refugee families, including those who have immigrated illegally, from what it calls "draconian actions taken by the Federal Administration:"

Legal response, including screening for possible immigration relief, representation in bond hearings, and representation in immigration cases.

Know your rights training for the broader community, including but not limited to immigrants, employers, City officials and departments.

Family preparedness plans relative to what happens to children, property, etc., in the event that parents are detained.

Immediate needs assistance to families affected by detentions, as it is often the breadwinner that is detained while the rest of the family is left with no income and afraid to leave their homes.

Julie LeMaster, executive director for the Immigrant and Refugee Law Center, said the legislation is in response to the threat of raids throughout the country by the Trump administration. Though Cincinnati has not been specifically targeted by ICE, LeMaster said detentions in the area have been increasing for years and she expects it's likely more will come.

"The city is looking for ways to help the (immigrant and refugee) community in the light of the current situation in the country," LeMaster said. "There are groups in the Cincinnati area that have been doing great work in various aspects of it but there really hasn’t been a coordinated community-wide response network until now."

The formation of the network follows City Council giving $50,000 to the Immigration and Refugee Law Center in the budget passed in June.

LeMaster said that although the network will be led by the law center, it will be a collaboration including city officials and other community partners, such as the YWCA, Cincinnati Compass, the Cincinnati Regional Coalition Against Hate, Hispanic Chamber Cincinnati USA and the Junior League of Cincinnati's RefugeeConnect, among others.

"People really want to be able to do something concrete to make a difference right now," LeMaster said. "People want to make Cincinnati a welcoming community for everybody."