More than 250 members of Butler County for Immigrant Justice crowded into the commissioners' chambers in Hamilton on Tuesday, July 21, filling the room past capacity as the group marked one year of weekly protests against the county's contract to house federal immigration detainees.
Commissioner T.C. Rogers acknowledged the overflow and defended the county's position. He said commissioners cannot change federal immigration law and warned that refusing to cooperate could result in Butler County being labeled a sanctuary county.
"We cannot say we're not going to adhere to the law unless we want to be designated a sanctuary county," Rogers said.
Ohio law does not define or penalize "sanctuary" jurisdictions, though the term is used politically to describe localities that limit cooperation with federal immigration enforcement.
Rogers also pushed back on the group's central demand, arguing that ending the contract would not free detainees but simply transfer them to another facility. He described a "major influx" of detainees but did not cite a specific number. ICE data from February showed 362 immigration detainees in the Butler County Jail.
» See photos of the turnout posted by Ignite Peace on Facebook
What the group wants
BCIJ says it is not asking the county to release anyone or ignore federal law. The group wants people in ICE custody to receive due process and a fair chance to have their immigration cases heard. Members also say federal ICE policies have contributed to racial profiling in Butler County.
Samantha Searls of Ignite Peace, one of the groups that joined the protest, said the effort is about holding local leaders accountable. BCIJ member Kathy McMahon-Klosterman said the group has no plans to stop showing up.
March and apples
After the meeting, protesters marched from the Butler County Government Services Center at 315 High St. to the Butler County Jail. Members brought apples, citing reports from detainees, according to the group, that fresh food is not regularly part of their meals. The sheriff's office declined the fruit, saying the jail cannot accept outside food.
The contract's scope
The Butler County sheriff renewed the jail's ICE contract in March 2025. As of February 2026, ICE data showed 362 of the jail's roughly 1,063 inmates were immigration detainees, according to the Ohio Capital Journal. That means about one-third of the jail population is held on behalf of the federal government.
Records obtained by the Ohio Capital Journal also showed 131 EMS calls from the jail between March 5, 2025, and June 2026, roughly 16 months. By comparison, 105 calls were logged across all 12 months of 2024, a higher monthly rate under the renewed contract. Chief Deputy Anthony Dwyer told the Ohio Capital Journal in June that the jail has medical staff on-site around the clock and called allegations of neglect "a completely false narrative."
Statewide, an ACLU of Ohio records request found 19 counties now have ICE agreements. Before 2025, only two Ohio counties had such deals, according to a March 2026 WOSU report.
What's next
The Butler County Board of Commissioners meets every Tuesday at 9:30 a.m. in the Commission Chambers, second floor, 315 High St., Hamilton. The next regular meeting is Tuesday, July 28. Public comment is accepted during the meeting. The Butler County Sheriff's Office had not responded to a request for comment as of Tuesday, July 21.
