Ohio police departments may soon be more in-line with the nationwide effort to apprehend and hold illegal immigrants.
The Ohio House of Representatives began deliberation on Senate Bill 260 Tuesday. The bill will allow local sheriffs to apprehend and hold illegal immigrants. Currently, the law does not allow sheriffs to do so.
The bill was passed in the Ohio Senate April 16, and originally presented to the Senate by Senator Gary Cates (R-West Chester), according to Cates's spokesperson Sarah Spence.
Butler County Prosecutor Robin Piper and Butler County Sheriff Richard Jones presented the legislation to Cates.
"If (a) federal official called Butler County and said, 'We have been doing an investigation and know person X is an illegal immigrant,' and then ask Butler County to hold the person until an agent can get here, the sheriff can do it," Spence said.
Piper said if the bill passes it will allow for federal and local law enforcement agencies to work together to better enforce immigration laws and lessen the strain on the federal government.
"It makes sense to have them help," Piper said. "Federal officials will be able to rely more on local officials to help them."
According to Jones, there are only 6,000 Immigration and Custom Enforcement (ICE) agents nationally and more than a million local law enforcement agents.
"There just aren't enough federal agents to investigate into every county and sate," Piper said. "It makes sense to allow local law enforcement officials, if trained by the (federal) government, to assist and facilitate."
Piper said as a member of law enforcement, he can't pretend he doesn't care about illegal immigration.
"It's one more tool in the belt of immigration laws," Piper said. "It seems to be the responsible step."
Enjoy what you're reading?
Signup for our newsletter
Piper said he hopes this bill discourages illegal immigration and encourages immigrants to legally participate in society.
"We want them to enjoy our society and ways of life and obey our society and rules," Piper said.
Jones said local communities need to be responsible for taking care of themselves and that this is a step in the right direction.
"People in both Republican and Democratic parties are fed up with D.C. anyway-there is not much getting done," Jones said. "We have to do it ourselves here and it's sad. The public has had all they can take."
Read More
How one professor and her classes are preserving Oxford’s Black history
By Sean Scott | March 20, 2024Jazma Sutton, an assistant professor of history, teaches The Black Midwest (HST 350Q) and Black Women in America (HST 450D) classes. In both courses, she has students working with the Smith Library of Regional History and Miami’s archives to document and preserve Black history in Oxford.
Miami faculty members recount Freedom Summer in new documentary
By Luke Macy | February 25, 2022After seven years of work, “Training for Freedom,” a documentary highlighting Oxford’s involvement in the Freedom Summer of 1964, premiered on PBS Western Reserve on Valentine’s Day.
“Documenting the COVID-19 Pandemic”: History in the making
By Alice Momany | August 29, 2021In March 2020, Miami University’s archives launched “Documenting the COVID-19 Pandemic,” a collection focused on life during the COVID-19 pandemic.