In May 2026, hundreds of Ohioans showed up for the Week of Action to End ICE Jail in Ohio, participating in interfaith vigils outside all six immigration jails in the state. Faith leaders, community members, and advocates stood together in Tiffin, Youngstown, Chardon, Hamilton, and Stryker to deliver a unified message: end immigration jail in Ohio, now and forever.

The work continues, with advocacy this week at the Butler County Commissioners’ meeting and CCNO Board meeting. Read more in this post.

The Ohio Immigrant Alliance released “They Walk Among Us: A List of 59 Sexually and Physically Abusive ICE and Border Agents,” an analysis of sexual and violent crimes committed by ICE and Border Patrol agents who primarily preyed upon women and children.

The report documents 59 cases of violent and/or sexual criminal acts by DHS employees, primarily carried out against women and children. It puts the criminal behavior of these agents in context with the agencies’ cultures, as well as recent policy changes that bode dangerously for public safety. DHS has further loosened agent vetting, hiring, and training standards, eliminated accountability, and expanded the types of dangerous tactics agents are authorized to use in the enforcement of civil immigration laws. 

Law enforcement experts are criticizing the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) tactics that killed a record number of civilians on U.S. streets. Police accountability and immigration enforcement experts say deaths will continue until Congress takes ICE's guns and bans them from making community arrests.

Former U.S. Border Patrol Commissioner Gil Kerlikowske spoke to this recently on NPR’s All Things Considered. In addition to numerous federal law enforcement roles, he formerly led police departments in Seattle and Buffalo.

Following is a statement from Lynn Tramonte, Executive Director of the Ohio Immigrant Alliance, in response to the latest fatal shooting by ICE, in Biddeford, ME, as well as ICE agents’ murder of Lorenzo Salgado Araujo last week. 

Pull ICE off all streets in all communities, NOW. They enforce CIVIL laws. There is no reason they should be allowed to invade our communities with guns. 

Click to read more.

Today, the Ohio Immigrant Alliance released its latest data-driven report that shows the Trump administration is lying about who it is arresting, detaining, and deporting.

“Counting Errors, Missing Denominators, and Misplaced Arrests: An Ohio Case Study of the White House ‘Alien Arrest’ Tracker” compares White House data to Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) data, revealing startling discrepancies that show the White House site cannot be trusted. 

If you want to know what’s wrong with the U.S. immigration system and how to make it work, don’t ask Congress. All they have done is over-fund the out-of-control agencies. Ask the immigration lawyers, and former immigration judges, agents, and immigrants who have been on the inside — some of whom have been violently discarded after building lives here for decades.

That’s what Demba Ndiath did in his new book, From Welcome To Deportation. Learn more about solutions from immigrants, lawyers, and judges in this blog post.

At the Butler County Commissioners’ meeting on June 3, 2026, Chief Anthony Dwyer delivered a defensive rant about criticisms that taxpayers, lawyers, immigrants, their loved ones, and allies have been making about the Butler County Jail’s treatment of so-called “civil immigration detainees.” Dwyer even addressed three lawsuits pending against the jail, a strange move since his office usually employs the “no comment on litigation” shield.

Following is the truth, with evidence, as well as additional data about the criminal history of people detained for ICE at the Butler County Jail, and a quote from Ohio Immigrant Alliance’s Executive Director, Lynn Tramonte. 

Well now we know. According to a majority of the U.S. Senate, and both of Ohio’s Senators, our tax dollars are just an ATM for ICE.

Read Lynn Tramonte’s statement about the Senate reconciliation bill and Senators Moreno and Husted’s votes.

On May 19, civil rights lawyers briefed the media about the latest lawsuit against the Butler County Jail, following an assault by a corrections officer against Mr. Luis Tenelanda, a father detained there on civil charges for Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).

At the same time, Butler County residents lined the Commission Chambers during the Commissioners’ weekly meeting, once again expressing their opposition to the jail’s ICE contract.

Faith leaders, advocates, and community members will gather for a statewide Week of Action featuring interfaith vigils in solidarity with people held in civil immigration detention (ICE jail) between May 23 and May 30.

These peaceful events will include prayer, reflection, and brief speaking programs. 

Today we held a press conference about the lawsuit against Butler County, Sheriff Jones, and Sgt. Corneal Rowe on behalf of Luis Tenelanda, a compassionate and brave man who was assaulted while detained in the Butler County Jail for ICE.

If you missed it, you can watch the recording and read a summary and transcript here, as well as download the complaint, Luis' statement, and other materials.

We have two big announcements at the Ohio Immigrant Alliance! First, we are suing the Butler County Jail, for a second time.

Second, we just released “Ohio Immigration and Customs Enforcement Activity Report (January 2025 - March 2026),” the only statewide analysis of immigration detention in Ohio during the first fifteen months of the second Trump administration.

We found that nearly 8,000 people were detained for ICE in Ohio between January 2025 and March 2026. Fewer than 5 percent had been convicted of a violent offense.

A second lawsuit has been filed on behalf of immigrants detained for ICE at the Butler County Jail. Here is everything you need to cover this case.

The Ohio Immigrant Alliance released the first and only statewide analysis of immigration detention in Ohio during the first fifteen months of the second Trump administration. 

According to “Ohio Immigration and Customs Enforcement Activity Report (January 2025 - March 2026),” ICE detention capacity in Ohio soared more than 1,000 percent during the first months of President Trump's second term. The number of ICE contracted jails in Ohio grew from two at the end of 2024 to six by the end of 2025. The statewide average daily detained population rose from 117 in 2024 to roughly 656 in 2025.

On April 25, community leaders, advocates, and faith-based organizers gathered at the Spring Assembly in Columbus, Ohio, for a panel discussion titled “Immigration Justice Work of Ohio: Regional Response to Immigration Enforcement.” Organized by Unitarian Universalist Justice Ohio, the session brought together individuals actively engaged in supporting immigrant communities across the state, highlighting both the challenges posed by immigration enforcement and the innovative, community-based responses emerging in Ohio.

The panel featured Lynn Buffington, Demba Ndiath, Jan Phillips, and Samantha Searls —each representing a different but complementary approach to immigration justice.

People who were deported are often discarded in the immigration policy debate. OIA’s #ReuniteUS advocacy program exists to change that.

In this post, Mustapha Komeh and Selly and Amadou Dia show was Ohio’s immigrant (and second-generation) leaders can do when they use their voices.

The goals of #ReuniteUS might not be possible soon. But we insist on changing U.S. immigration laws and policies to actually address human needs, social ties, family relationships, community benefits, and humanitarian protection, however long it takes.

In two videos, OIA’s Lynn Tramonte talks about people helping people inside immigration jail, and how those of us on the outside can get involved; Mustapha Komeh tells us what “life” is like inside immigration jail.

People in those jail cells deserve to eat real food, buy warm clothing, and be able to call their loved ones and lawyers when they need to. But at the end of it all, we see that immigration jail is about profit and money motivations, not what is best for communities or society. And that is why the entire system needs to be dismantled.

From Welcome To Deportation is the forthcoming book from Demba Ndiath, Ohio Immigrant Alliance’s Advocacy Director, about West African migration along the “bottom route” to the United States.

It does more than diagnose problems and document pain. It advances solutions; improvements to today’s immigration system like guaranteed legal representation for people with cases in civil immigration court; a truly independent immigration judiciary, rather than one fully controlled by the Executive Branch; and an end to immigration jail.

Right now, Ohioans are being arrested, incarcerated, and treated like they are disposable, because they are immigrants. That is wrong. We demand an end to “civil” immigration jail, and action from Congress to reign in Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and build an immigration system that recognizes that migration is part of being human.

Between May 23 and May 30, communities across Ohio are coming together for a statewide week of interfaith vigils in solidarity with people held in civil immigration detention (a.k.a. ICE jail). Faith leaders, organizers, and community members will raise their voices, hold space for reflection, and stand in collective action. The coordinated week of action calls for:

• An end to ICE detention

• Transparency in detention facility funding

• An end to 287(g) agreements

Ohio Immigrant Alliance just released, “Ending Immigration Jail in Ohio: How and Why,” a report that breaks down the concept of immigration jail into simple terms; provides examples of successful community organizing to end ICE jail contracts in Ohio; and offers recommendations for a more logical and humane policy.

From May 23-30, organizers are planning a week of action to end ICE jail, with interfaith vigils in communities around the state.