Saxon is out (at ICE)
[content warning - domestic violence]
Samuel Saxon is the poster child of what a bad ICE agent is and looks like, because he seems so “normal.” That’s how bad guys blend in.
We’ve been talking about him for months now, because we find it beyond belief that Saxon’s bosses at ICE didn’t know he was beating, strangling, and breaking the bones of his domestic partner, the mother of his children, every other week. In fact, we know it’s not true, because one of his superiors asked the police to perform a welfare check. Police found him naked, behind the toilet with a knife, threatening to kill himself. That’s the guy ICE promoted to assistant field office director of Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO) and sent to Cincinnati.
Said Lynn Tramonte, Executive Director of the Ohio Immigrant Alliance, “Today, I am happy to say, Samuel Saxon no longer supervises people with authority over immigrants. According to Fox19, Samuel Saxon is no longer an employee of ICE. The government did not say whether Saxon resigned, retired, or was terminated. The answer matters, but what matters more is that he is gone.”
Saxon is (likely) the first ICE agent in the country to be incarcerated in his own ICE jail. He had been detained in the Butler County Jail, the most notorious ICE facility in Ohio, with an abusive track record, since December 2025. Saxon was recently transferred to the Camden County Jail in Kentucky, which has also been the subject of horrific complaints from people detained there for ICE. He awaits sentencing on his federal conviction, as well as trial on the domestic violence charges.
“Samuel Saxon and Andrew Golobic are the reasons we started looking into the backgrounds of ICE and Border Patrol agents in other parts of the country,” said Tramonte, referencing a terrifying report OIA released in July, “They Walk Among Us: A List of 59 Sexually and Physically Abusive ICE and Border Agents.”
“We are constantly being told lies about immigrants, when it’s actually these federal agents who are preying on our communities and even killing us on our streets and in ICE jail. And the tone is set from the top. That’s why Saxon leaving is important. There have to be consequences for his actions. And we have to keep going down the line until every federal agent who disrespects the badge and our people is caught, adjudicated, and held accountable.”
On August 18 at 11am, OIA is releasing an explosive update of its July report, in a panel discussion with policy, legal, and border community experts.
“As we learned about all of the warning signs and reasons the government should have rejected David Brouillette from the very start, OIA put out a list of dangerous agents. But we immediately had to update it. On Tuesday, August 18, we’ll release a shocking new report and updated list, with nearly 100 new names,” added Tramonte. “Most importantly, we have instructions for Congress. The days of blank checks and rapid-fire hiring without background checks have to be over. We need to slow down and do this right. And remember, these agents enforce civil laws. They aren’t out there arresting murderers. They deal with paperwork problems; these should be desk jobs. That’s how every other civil law enforcement agency works. The guns, the jails, the dangerous traffic stops — it’s all over the top. Make immigration enforcement boring again. Create ways that people can comply with the law. Lower the temperature, turn down the heat, and stop the deaths.”
Register to attend the Zoom event here. Panelists include Lauren Bonds, Executive Director, National Police Accountability Project; Lisalyn R. Jacobs, CEO, Just Solutions; Peter L. Markowitz, Professor of Law, Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law, Yeshiva University and Co-Director, Kathryn O. Greenberg Immigration Justice Clinic; Lilian Serrano, Director, Southern Border Communities Coalition; and Lynn Tramonte, Executive Director, Ohio Immigrant Alliance (report author & moderator).
Members of the media and other content creators can apply to request an embargoed copy of the report, when it is ready, by filling out this Google form. A non-disclosure agreement will be required.
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