Six Ohio jails help ICE with deportations

Six jails across the Buckeye State are playing an active and expanding role in the federal government’s deportation operations.

By agreeing to hold people detained by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and by making country facilities part of a wider network of enforcement, the result has been a sharp increase in the removal of illegal aliens from the state.

Data compiled by reporters provided by the federal government show a significant rise in removals and detentions tied to the current deportation surge.

According to the Springfield News-Sun, which analyzed ICE data provided to the Deportation Data Project, Ohio has racked up 1,081 deportations through July 28, an increase from the 561 in 2024. There were 242 deportations in June alone, a dramatic increase from 35 last June.

Observers and experts both agree that such logistical support from local law enforcement agencies makes this eye-opening increase in removals possible.

Local officials explain that the agreements are part of an overall effort to increase public safety. Butler County Sheriff Richard K. Jones, an outspoken supporter of local cooperation with federal immigration authorities, said the contracts help remove people he describes as dangerous.

“It’s beneficial to lock people up that have committed crimes in Ohio or come to the United States,” Jones told Ideastream Public Media. “It’s beneficial for my community to take people off the street and get them back to the country they came from.”

ICE has a list of resources for authorities to tap into, which legally allow the local agency to deputize trained officers for immigration work and to pay local facilities to hold detainees pending immigration proceedings or removal. The 287(g) Jail Enforcement Model is designed to identify and process removable aliens who are arrested by local law enforcement.

Some civil liberty groups, particularly those on the left, contend without any evidence that the use of county jails raises legal and human rights questions. The ACLU of Ohio has sued multiple sheriff’s offices, seeking copies of records, including contracts, arguing that transparency is required and that some local agreements may lack proper authorization from county governments.

“It’s important to understand the government works for us,” Freda Levenson, the ACLU of Ohio’s chief legal officer, told Ideastream Public Media. “Public records belong to the public. We’re only asking for records that we’re entitled clearly to receive.”