Residents Press Commissioners on ICE Partnerships and Lack of Secular Homeless Shelter; Sheriff Defends Task-Force Model
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Summary
Speakers at Clermont County’s Feb. 4 meeting urged officials to end county participation in ICE-related enforcement and establish a secular homeless shelter; Sheriff Sherry Stratton responded, denying mass '287(g)' raids and outlining the office’s coordination with prosecutors and neighboring counties.
Several residents used the public-comment period at the Feb. 4 meeting of the Board of County Commissioners of Clermont County to raise concerns about the county's cooperation with federal immigration enforcement and the absence of a secular homeless shelter.
Jen of Union Township told the commissioners she disputed characterizations from the prior meeting about a county partnership with ICE and said homelessness in Clermont County is driven by poverty. “When that time ends, the people are out whether the temperature is 6 degrees below or not,” she said, arguing the county needs a secular shelter because relying on faith-based options can force people to endure religious programming as a condition of shelter.
Ryan Bastine of Goshen recounted personal experience with hotel vouchers and homelessness and urged officials to reopen a nearby shelter that closed during the COVID-19 pandemic. Bastine criticized the county’s use of resources with immigration enforcement and urged removal of ICE from local communities, saying organizers are prepared to vote officials out if policies continue.
Other speakers — including Joe Small, Leslie Jump, Kevin Bruce and Sue Yaks — urged humane treatment, cooperation between community groups and law enforcement, and explicit answers about a previously referenced contract. Sue Yaks asked whether a referenced “287(g)” arrangement was entered into improperly and whether the county had forwarded the matter to the attorney general for review.
Sheriff Sherry Stratton addressed the room and disputed several public concerns about large-scale ICE raids. “We do not have a 287(g) in the jail and [we are] not contracting with ICE in the facility,” she said, adding that the sheriff’s office participates in a task-force model and works with the prosecutor’s office to review any contracts. She said federal operations have been adjusted to fit local needs and described how the office coordinates with federal partners and neighboring sheriffs to control operations and protect inmates and residents.
The public comments and sheriff’s remarks came ahead of an emergency agenda item related to a recent infrastructure failure at the county jail (see separate article). The public-comment period was governed by the board’s rule that commissioners are not required to respond during that period but may choose to do so.
