HAMILTON, Ohio — One day after the Butler County Sheriff’s Office's new Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) contract went into effect, the county’s top cop said they have multiple detainees in the county jail.
“We got prisoners today” from the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Butler County Sheriff Richard Jones said.
Jones would not say how many people are in the jail.
“I’m not going to do anything that causes ICE grief,” said Jones, adding he won’t say where the ICE detainees are coming from. “You’ll have to ask ICE that.”
Jones has been a strong advocate in pushing illegal immigrants out of the country, including posting a sign that reads “Illegal Aliens Here” at the county jail.
WATCH: We discuss the sign, and Jones' commitment to housing illegal immigrants despite the cost with him
A petition was posted on Change.org in January requesting Jones remove his “Illegal Aliens Here” sign, calling it offensive. More than 4,500 people have signed the petition, but Jones won’t take the sign down.
The Butler County Commission approved a new contract last week with ICE, and it went into effect on Wednesday. The previous contract with ICE ran from 2003 to June 2021, when Jones canceled it because of his disagreements with the Biden administration.
Jones said over the past year, there have been 1,400 illegal immigrants in his jail that had committed more than 2,000 state crimes, which he added costs the country “millions of dollars” as they navigate the legal process.
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