POLITICO reported that Rep. Omar will lead an effort “to press the Biden administration to stop housing migrants in local prison and jail facilities where allegations of misconduct, abuse, rape and medical neglect remain rampant.”
Unfortunately we have plenty of examples here in Ohio. Right now, there are efforts to end contracts at two county jails that detain people for ICE: the Morrow County Correctional Facility and Butler County Jail.
The Morrow County campaign is on its way to success. This jail has not housed people detained for ICE since the middle of February, although we do not yet know if the contract was terminated. Butler County has been sued by immigrants for physical assaults, and there are additional reports of racial and religious discrimination as well as gross medical neglect. The sheriff here styles himself as the “Arpaio of Ohio,” and the abuses at this jail have been going on for years.
There is also a new county sheriff in Hamilton County, Butler’s neighbor, who has vowed to be a sheriff for all people, not just U.S. citizens. Charmaine McGuffey ran on a platform of change and inclusion, and is building a relationship of trust with area immigrants.
As the ACLU of Ohio reveals in a new analysis of public records, there are several problems with the county ICE contracts in Ohio, and just as many reasons why they should be cancelled. For one, the contracts were put in place indefinitely: “The contracts are dictating a standard of care for human lives, undoubtedly things have evolved over the last roughly 10-15 years. Yet there is no pressure for the county, and federal government, to remain accountable.”
A robust article in The Kenyon Collegian, by Grace Goldstein, is a fascinating read. It includes interviews with the Morrow County Sheriff, a Morrow County Commissioner, and Saidu Sow, one of the whistleblowers detained for ICE at this jail in 2020. Goldstein writes:
Before he stepped inside an ICE facility, Sow says, he hadn’t really experienced direct, explicit vitriol for being an immigrant. People would hide their resentment. Today in Ohio, according to Sow, COs and ICE agents harass refugees directly: “The thing that went to shock me the most is the people that work for the United States government itself: ICE agents,” said Sow, who claims that he and his fellow inmates have repeatedly been discouraged from seeking asylum. “ICE officers are hostile. Sometimes racist. I mean, I hate to use that word, because it’s a strong word to use, but it is facts.” He told me that physical attacks on detainees are frequent, and that solitary confinement is used as a punishment.
In the article, Morrow County Sheriff Hinton asks: “why aren’t they trying to shut other jails down? Why are they trying to shut mine down?” The answer is, we ARE trying to close every jail that abuses or neglects the people in their care. And, we want to end civil immigration detention in its entirety.
Detained immigrants and their loved ones, and allies across the state, will keep up the pressure until the inhumanity ends.