Residents urge Butler County commissioners to end ICE contract, recount detainee's account of jail conditions

During the meeting’s public-comment period, more than a dozen residents addressed Butler County Commissioners about the county jail, the sheriff’s contracts with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and the U.S. Marshals Service, and living conditions described by a recently released detainee.

Ellen Price of Oxford quoted from the detainee’s public account and told commissioners that the detainee’s description focused less on the physical plant and more on treatment. “He related his initial intake, being stripped and held in freezing temperature for hours and not given the chance to use a bathroom,” Price said. She added that the detainee described limited exposure to sunlight and being placed in near-solitary confinement after seeking a place to pray.

Several speakers asked the commissioners to stop expanding or profiting from ICE and federal detainee contracts and to hold the sheriff to the countywide hiring moratorium. Anne Jansen, who said the sheriff requested additional staff including assignments to ICE and U.S. Marshals work, told commissioners the county “has thoughtlessly given them the dehumanizing label of illegal immigrants” and called for a halt to budget increases tied to federal detainee operations.

Kathy Brinkman of Oxford described a recent case she said involved a 13-year-old child taken into custody and transferred into federal custody; she told commissioners the child spent days separated from family and without immediate legal representation. Brinkman said such incidents illustrate the trauma residents fear when federal detentions occur locally.

Other commenters framed their opposition in historical or constitutional terms. Anne Brown provided an overview of how U.S. immigration policy has evolved and stressed that many migrants do not have a practical lawful path to enter; Shane Thayer, a Marine Corps veteran, tied his remarks to concerns about increasing law enforcement power and called for opening prisons. Linda Spurrier and Karen Albrecht criticized national narratives and urged the county to consider ending ICE contracts on moral and civil-liberties grounds. Cathy McMahon Closterman told commissioners: “You now cannot say you didn’t know what was happening,” and asked what action the board would take based on the public testimony.

No formal action -- such as a motion to amend or terminate county contracts with ICE or the Marshals Service -- was taken during the meeting. Commissioners closed the public-comment period and proceeded to other agenda items.