{"id":10980,"date":"2025-03-12T13:36:38","date_gmt":"2025-03-12T13:36:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/laprensanewspaper.com\/?p=10980"},"modified":"2025-03-12T13:36:38","modified_gmt":"2025-03-12T13:36:38","slug":"did-you-know-ice-puts-ohioans-in-jail-who-havent-even-been-charged-with-crimes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/laprensanewspaper.com\/index.php\/2025\/03\/12\/did-you-know-ice-puts-ohioans-in-jail-who-havent-even-been-charged-with-crimes\/","title":{"rendered":"Did you know ICE puts Ohioans in jail who haven\u2019t even been charged with crimes?"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>You guessed right. It’s about money for the jailers, not what’s best for our communities.<\/strong><\/p>\n

By Lynn Tramonte of the Ohio Immigrant Alliance<\/strong><\/p>\n

The people we’re talking about are Ohioans who have cases in immigration court, or who are eligible for deportation \u2014 a civil matter. Said\u00a0Lynn Tramonte, Executive Director of the Ohio Immigrant Alliance, \u201cIncarceration is an extreme action. It’s separation from your family, your job, your home. The loss of liberty. It’s isolating; it makes people sick; and it’s terrifying. If it seems patently inhumane to put people navigating a civil process in a criminal jail, that’s because it is.”<\/p>\n

Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) puts some people in jails while they are battling civil immigration cases. \u201cFour years ago, brave immigrants, community members, and lawyers pushed back and\u00a0ended two ICE contracts<\/a>\u00a0with Ohio county jails. Unfortunately, some Ohio counties and the private prison company, CoreCivic, don’t care about what’s healthy for our communities. They just want to make money. If they have their way, ICE jail will increase 1000% across Ohio. But we know what to do. We’ve done this before. In fact, we still have a\u00a0lawsuit pending against the Butler County Jail<\/a>\u00a0because of abuses during the first Trump administration,” said Tramonte.<\/p>\n

“We will continue to oppose ICE agents coming into our homes, businesses, schools, and houses of worship to kidnap our friends and loved ones. We will continue to\u00a0educate everyone<\/a>\u00a0about their legal rights. We’ve\u00a0started a hotline<\/a>\u00a0to receive abuse complaints. And we’ll hold county officials accountable, because anyone who votes to participate in the deportation machine has put their communities in the cross-hairs. We won’t forget, and they will find out. They are on the wrong side of history,” she continued.<\/p>\n

Butler County Jail is a ticking time bomb.<\/strong><\/p>\n

ICE “detention” has nothing to do with criminal conduct, even though it takes place in a jail. Of course, you wouldn’t know this from\u00a0Butler County Sheriff Jones<\/a>. As a sheriff, he already has the authority to detain people who commit crimes. He wanted his ICE contract back so he can detain Ohioans who just want to take care of their families \u2014 including the parents and spouses of U.S. citizens.\u00a0Jones has a lawsuit still pending against him from the last time his jail held people for ICE.<\/strong>\u00a0Physical assaults, racial abuse, denial of medical treatment to people with cancer \u2014 that’s the tip of the iceberg when it comes to the sheriff’s mistreatment of people in so-called “civil” detention.<\/p>\n

Ohio Immigrant Alliance has already established a hotline to\u00a0<\/strong>receive and act on abuse complaints<\/strong><\/a>.\u00a0<\/strong>“By letting Sheriff Jones detain people for ICE, again, the Butler County Commissioners are being fiscally and morally reckless. When there are additional abuses of immigrants \u2014 and I do mean when, not if \u2014 we will be right back in court to add to the case,” said Tramonte.<\/p>\n

“ICE detention should not exist.”<\/strong><\/p>\n

ICE does not need to detain people in order to deport them. Just ask\u00a0Eulogio Hernandez Box<\/a>. It does so in order to coerce people into giving up on their appeals.<\/p>\n

During the first few weeks of the Trump administration, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents roamed Ohio neighborhoods and businesses \u2014 even lurking outside of schools \u2014 to abduct our family members and friends. But their actions were limited, because ICE jail in Ohio was limited \u2014 due to advocacy led by the Ohio Immigrant Alliance, our partners and, most importantly, brave immigrants.<\/p>\n

That may soon change. And Ohio county officials who are taking on federal responsibilities have\u00a0not actually weighed the pros and cons<\/a>. If they had, they would realize\u00a0there are hidden costs to participating in mass detention and deportation\u00a0<\/strong>\u2014 from litigation expenses, to strains on Ohio businesses, communities, and families. They were warned, and it’s not too late to listen.<\/p>\n

In 2023,\u00a0NPR reported<\/a>\u00a0the \u201cGovernment\u2019s own experts found \u2018barbaric\u2019 and \u2018negligent\u2019 conditions in ICE detention.\u201d\u00a0Ohio Immigrant Alliance Organizer Saidu Sow<\/strong>, who helped lead OHIA’s work in county jails during the first Trump administration,\u00a0said<\/a>: \u201cFinally, at least one government body has found that everything we were saying was true. They\u2019re still missing some things; this is just the tip of the iceberg. There is no fixing this system. ICE detention should not exist.\u201d<\/p>\n

In one week, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) jail capacity in Ohio could climb 983%.<\/strong><\/p>\n

During and immediately following the first Trump administration, brave immigrants who were incarcerated worked with lawyers and organizers to\u00a0end ICE contracts<\/a>\u00a0at the Butler and Morrow County Jails. Together, we\u00a0documented<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0spoke out<\/a>\u00a0against abuses; filed civil rights\u00a0complaints<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0lawsuits<\/a>;\u00a0educated counties<\/a>\u00a0about the “hidden” costs of ICE detention; and made it clear that\u00a0everyone in Ohio has human rights<\/a>.\u00a0From inside institutions that sought to deny them power, Ohio immigrants\u00a0<\/strong>exercised agency and won liberation<\/strong><\/a>\u00a0for themselves and others. <\/strong>Ending these two ICE contracts, as well as the one at the Northeast Ohio Correctional Center (NEOCC), a CoreCivic jail in Youngstown,\u00a0reduced ICE jail capacity in Ohio 90%<\/a>\u2014from a high of 596 \u201cbeds\u201d per day at five jails, to a low of 59 \u201cbeds\u201d at two facilities as of last year. As a result, deportations across the entire Detroit Field Office fell 63%.<\/p>\n

Next week, ICE capacity may rise again. Ohio could go from having around 120 “beds” at two facilities (Geauga and Seneca County Jails), to approximately 1,300 “beds” at five facilities (Geauga, Seneca, Butler, NEOCC, and Corrections Center of Northwest Ohio). According to media reports, NEOCC has space for\u00a0784 people<\/a>\u00a0detained for ICE; Corrections Center of Northwest Ohio will take up to\u00a096 individuals<\/a>; and Butler County is making room for\u00a0300<\/a>\u00a0people.\u00a0Geauga County<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0Seneca County<\/a>\u00a0can each hold around 60 people for ICE, making the combined capacity across these five institutions 1,300. That would be nearly a 1000% increase, if allowed to happen.<\/p>\n

Tramonte said, \u201cWe will continue to inform people of their rights when confronted by ICE. We will document abuses and hold jailers accountable. And we will continue to organize locally, because ripping people out of their jobs and homes is something Ohio officials will regret.\u201d<\/p>\n

There is a better way to manage immigration, so that people can remain at home with their loved ones.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Immigrants belong at home with their families, not\u00a0in chains<\/a>. U.S. Americans are grappling with the new reality under Trump: ICE raids in our communities; using the military to\u00a0detain<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0deport<\/a>\u00a0immigrants; and even\u00a0cancelling immigration legal programs<\/a>\u00a0to make more people undocumented.\u00a0Now is a good time to talk about what we want the immigration system to be, instead.<\/strong><\/p>\n

For ideas, read Peter L. Markowitz paper, A New Paradigm for Humane and Effective Immigration Enforcement<\/em> (November 20, 2020),<\/em> at https:\/\/www.americanprogress.org\/article\/new-paradigm-humane-effective-immigration-enforcement\/<\/a> about a system that makes logical sense and works the way most U.S. Americans think it already does. It involves simplified laws, paths to compliance, and recognition of the fact that immigrants are human beings.<\/p>\n

For more about the problems with mass ICE detention<\/strong>, go to the Ohio Immigrant Alliance webpage https:\/\/ohioimmigrant.org<\/a> and spread the word about the\u00a0Ohio Immigrant Hotline<\/a>, a place where incarcerated immigrants and their loved ones can report abuses.\u00a0Because\u00a0every person in Ohio has rights, including people detained in so-called “civil” immigration jail.\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

How It Works:\u00a0<\/strong>Email\u00a0hotline@ohioimmigrant.org<\/strong><\/a>\u00a0or leave a voice mail at 419-777-HELP (4357).\u00a0<\/strong>You can send or leave a message in any language. Your personal details will not be made public or shared with anyone. Multilingual Hotline Managers respond to every call and message we receive within 24-48 hours (typically much earlier). Currently, we do not have live-answering capabilities. We are working toward this in the future.<\/p>\n

“The Ohio Immigrant Alliance was created to connect immigrants who have made Ohio their home, and people who never had to make the choice to move,” said Tramonte. “We all want the same thing \u2014 to live in a safe place, raise our families, and contribute to our communities. If you agree,\u00a0sign the Ohio Stands With Immigrants petition<\/a>\u00a0and send a message to city, county, and state officials that\u00a0Ohio is home<\/a>.” #OhioIsHome<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

You guessed right. It’s about money for the jailers, not what’s best for our communities. By Lynn Tramonte of the Ohio Immigrant Alliance The people we’re talking about are Ohioans who have cases in immigration court, or who are eligible for deportation \u2014 a civil matter. Said\u00a0Lynn Tramonte, Executive Director of the Ohio Immigrant Alliance,<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":10981,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_rtcl_gb_attr":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"wf_post_folders":[246],"class_list":["post-10980","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-ohio"],"aioseo_notices":[],"rttpg_featured_image_url":{"full":["https:\/\/laprensanewspaper.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/1stop.jpg",700,477,false],"landscape":["https:\/\/laprensanewspaper.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/1stop.jpg",700,477,false],"portraits":["https:\/\/laprensanewspaper.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/1stop.jpg",700,477,false],"thumbnail":["https:\/\/laprensanewspaper.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/1stop-150x150.jpg",150,150,true],"medium":["https:\/\/laprensanewspaper.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/1stop-300x204.jpg",300,204,true],"large":["https:\/\/laprensanewspaper.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/1stop.jpg",640,436,false],"1536x1536":["https:\/\/laprensanewspaper.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/1stop.jpg",700,477,false],"2048x2048":["https:\/\/laprensanewspaper.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/1stop.jpg",700,477,false],"rtcl-gallery":["https:\/\/laprensanewspaper.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/1stop-700x462.jpg",700,462,true],"rtcl-thumbnail":["https:\/\/laprensanewspaper.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/1stop-320x240.jpg",320,240,true],"rtcl-gallery-thumbnail":["https:\/\/laprensanewspaper.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/1stop-150x105.jpg",150,105,true],"psacp-medium":["https:\/\/laprensanewspaper.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/1stop.jpg",500,341,false],"rpwe-thumbnail":["https:\/\/laprensanewspaper.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/1stop-45x45.jpg",45,45,true]},"rttpg_author":{"display_name":"LaPrensa Newspaper","author_link":"https:\/\/laprensanewspaper.com\/index.php\/author\/laprensa\/"},"rttpg_comment":0,"rttpg_category":"Ohio<\/a>","rttpg_excerpt":"You guessed right. It’s about money for the jailers, not what’s best for our communities. By Lynn Tramonte of the Ohio Immigrant Alliance The people we’re talking about are Ohioans who have cases in immigration court, or who are eligible for deportation \u2014 a civil matter. Said\u00a0Lynn Tramonte, Executive Director of the Ohio Immigrant Alliance,","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/laprensanewspaper.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10980","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/laprensanewspaper.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/laprensanewspaper.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/laprensanewspaper.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/laprensanewspaper.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=10980"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/laprensanewspaper.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10980\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":10982,"href":"https:\/\/laprensanewspaper.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10980\/revisions\/10982"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/laprensanewspaper.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/10981"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/laprensanewspaper.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=10980"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/laprensanewspaper.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=10980"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/laprensanewspaper.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=10980"},{"taxonomy":"wf_post_folders","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/laprensanewspaper.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/wf_post_folders?post=10980"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}