When it comes to enforcing the nation’s immigration laws and deporting migrants in the country illegally, the feds have a partner in Ohio’s jails.
Butler County Sheriff Richard Jones is among the Buckeye State law enforcement officials at the front of the push to expel those in the country illegally.
“Everybody is a border state right now,” The Ohio Newsroom quoted Jones. “Every county, every city … because they don’t stay on the border, they come here," he said.
“The [federal government] depends on sheriffs and county jails to have bed space,” Jones added, per the report.
Butler made headlines earlier this year when his office arrested two illegal aliens who used fake identification to access a construction site at the county jail in Hamilton.
At about 11:30 a.m. on March 26, officials discovered some workers’ credentials appeared fraudulent. A U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent interviewed the two, who admitted they were in the United States illegally.
The Butler County Sheriff’s Office recently partnered with Immigration and Customs Enforcement, and an agent from the department was at the main jail.
The need for additional housing capacity has taken on new urgency amid President Donald Trump’s push to crack down on those in the country illegally. Estimates vary on how many people are in the country illegally, but several estimates indicate it is in the 11 million range.
According to The Ohio Newsroom, six jails in Ohio are authorized to hold ICE detainees.
“My firm belief is that President Trump and [Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem] are on the right track regards our Border security,” Williams County Sheriff Tom Kochert said in a statement to the publication.
“I have reached out to ICE and offered any material, tangible, or intangible resources I can provide to assist them in this mission,” Kochert added. “Housing federal inmates has been the norm for us, and most regional jails for several years, so this is not a new venture.”
In Mahoning County, jail officials partnered with the feds and offered their unused detention space.
“As soon as Trump got elected, I contacted ICE in Cleveland and Homeland Security in Detroit and discussed with them that I would certainly have some open bed space if they wanted to come and take a look at us as a particular facility that they want to be housing immigrants,” News Channel 5 in Cleveland quoted Mahoning County Sheriff Jerry Greene.
“For the entire county, we book about 450 inmates a month,” Greene told the station. “But over a six-month period, we saw six illegal immigrants generally on minor charges, driving under suspension, driving without a license, you know, maybe a shoplifting charge or something like that, but we don’t see them around here as much.”
The county’s decision to partner with federal immigration authorities has prompted protestors to decry the move.
“Our neighbors are being targeted. Our communities are being threatened. We will not stand by while injustice reigns, families are torn apart and voices are silenced,” Janet Cobb, a Salem resident who was among the protesters, said in an email to The Vindicator newspaper in Youngstown. “This is about standing up for the constitutional rights of everyone in the Mahoning Valley.”
Immigration advocates and civil liberties groups have similarly criticized the crackdowns, and the ACLU has sought to clarify the status of those in the country illegally.
“The act of being present in the United States in violation of the immigration laws is not, standing alone, a crime,” the ACLU said in an issue brief on its website. “...Entering the United States without being inspected and admitted, i.e., illegal entry, is a misdemeanor or can be a felony, depending on the circumstances.”
As federal authorities continue their crackdown on illegal aliens nationwide, some Ohio lawmakers previously told Ohio.news that U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi should investigate Ohio’s sanctuary cities next.
