Butler County, after several years of a no-go with ICE, has flipped the switch and is set to house detainees for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) once more. The county's commissioners, during a meeting yesterday, have given the green light to an amendment that'll see the Butler County Jail open its doors to ICE detainees from March 5, following a pause in 2021 due to regulatory changes under the Biden administration, according to a report by WLWT.
The contract amendment intertwines with the existing agreement with the U.S. Department of Justice United States Marshals Service and is expected to kick in early next month. As Chief Deputy Anthony Dwyer mentioned to the Journal-News, they are preparing to "fulfill our role in the current administration's process of deporting a lot of the illegals." The Sheriff's Office is already coordinating with ICE officials to ensure they are primed for the detainees' arrival, hoping the change will add a revenue stream for the county.
We're looking at Butler County Jail potentially being able to accommodate "probably up to a couple hundred" ICE detainees, with Dwyer underscoring the sheriff's intent on capitalizing on the prior experience of housing detainees before the Biden administration added hurdles that precipitated the contract's termination, as detailed in his interview with the Journal-News.
Moreover, the county is poised to rake in $68 per day for every detainee housed, plus $36 hourly for transportation to court hearings and possibly airports, underpinning Sheriff Richard Jones's comments to FOX19 where he likened his readied jail beds to a "Motel 6" for ICE prisoners-ready to house them before 'you get kicked out of the country,' as revealed in their report.
Amid mixed reactions from local communities and leadership, notably contrasting with Cincinnati's mayor Aftab Pureval's stance on non-cooperation with ICE, Sheriff Jones has restamped his commitment to this course by resurrecting a sign reading "Illegal Aliens Here" pointing to the jail, sparking a petition with thousands of signatures for its removal, this controversial move was reported by FOX19, wherein Jones unabashedly promoted the petition on his social media.
