By Jefferson Diaz
The Truth Reporter
The U.S Department of Transportation sent a memo to the city of Toledo with a warning: if they do not collaborate with federal agencies, such as ICE, or continue to hire people based on their race, sex or religion, instead of merit, they will stop sending funds.
Several city leaders – and members of the Democratic Party – held a press conference to send a clear message to President Donald Trump’s administration: “we will not let him bully us.”
Toledo expects to receive millions of dollars in 2025 from US Department of Transportation. The president of the City Council, Carrie Hartman, said: “What we get varies year to year and what we haven’t received this year is more than 40 million dollars.”
Hartman added that if they don’t obtain these funds, Toledo’s roads will be affected. “The city can only put up to $24 million a year for this type of work. The extra money we receive from the federal government, which is our tax money, is used for large projects.”
The public transportation system and construction projects will also be affected if the USDOT doesn’t pay what they promised.
“Everything is chaos because they don’t specify when they will leave us without funds. We feel like they are bullying us,” Hartman said.
Toledo’s Mayor Wade Kapszukiewicz said the city will continue to be “a welcoming place for diversity” and that the changes in policies from Washington still represent too much uncertainty to have “some certainty about what may happen in the near future.”
“There is a lot of fear but we will not stop receiving guidance from the different courts in the country and will just keep doing what’s best for everyone who lives in our city,” he added
Kapszukiewicz assured residents that so far ICE has not requested help from the Toledo Police Department to carry out raids looking for migrants. “We aim for our law enforcement officers to follow the law and take dangerous people off the street. Always following the due process.”