The Fight

Butler County Jail in Hamilton is Ohio’s most aggressive ICE detention partner (over $14M in 2025 revenue, $20M projected for 2026, both 287(g) models, primary holding site for Operation Buckeye arrests out of Columbus). Against it, a grassroots coalition — Butler County for Immigrant Justice, largely senior citizens — has shown up at County Commissioners meetings weekly since July 2025 demanding the ICE contract be cancelled. Commissioners have refused: Commissioner T.C. Rogers has publicly stated he has no plans to end the contract. The campaign escalated in May 2026 around a new detainee-assault lawsuit and a statewide week of action.

Key Details

Detainee Assault Lawsuit (filed May 18, 2026)

• Plaintiff: Luis Tenelanda, ICE detainee from Ecuador
• Defendants: Sheriff Richard Jones, Sgt. Corneal Rowe, and Butler County (federal court)
• Allegation: On June 8, 2025, Rowe entered Tenelanda’s cell, used a racial slur and called detainees “illegals,” then punched him in the stomach; Tenelanda lost consciousness, waited ~40 minutes for a medical response, and was hospitalized two days later with stomach inflammation and arm pain
• Internal affairs found Rowe used “minimal force” but violated policy by failing to file an incident report — he received only an oral reprimand
• Tenelanda was deported to Ecuador ~2 months after the incident; suit seeks compensatory and punitive damages, alleging an unprovoked, race-based assault

Campaign Activity

• Weekly public-comment appearances at Butler County Commissioners meetings since July 2025; spoke again May 19, 2026 citing the Tenelanda suit
• Tied to the Ohio Immigrant Alliance “How to End ICE Jail in Ohio” report (Apr 20, 2026), which targets county commissioners as the contracting authority
• Part of the statewide week of action to end ICE jail, May 23-30, 2026 (interfaith vigils at all six ICE jails — Seneca May 23, Butler/Mahoning mid-week, Geauga May 28, Corrections Center of NW Ohio in Stryker May 30). As of June 2, 2026 the week of action has concluded; no contract concession resulted, and commissioners’ position is unchanged.

Context

• Butler is the primary holding facility for ICE arrests out of Columbus, receiving roughly half of all ICE payments to Ohio’s six contracted facilities
• Echoes prior wins: detained immigrants previously organized inside the Morrow and Butler County jails to help end two earlier ICE contracts

Why This Matters

Under AG Dave Yost’s Aug 2025 opinion, county commissioners — not the sheriff alone — hold the authority to enter (and exit) ICE detention contracts. That makes the commissioners the pressure point, and Butler the test case for whether sustained local organizing can force a county to walk away from lucrative ICE revenue. The Tenelanda lawsuit converts diffuse conditions complaints into a concrete, named, litigated harm.

Legal lever (Sixth Circuit): Butler sits in the Sixth Circuit, which ruled FOR individualized bond hearings in Lopez-Campos v. Raycraft (May 11, 2026) — holding the government cannot use § 1225(b) mandatory detention against long-term interior residents and must afford § 1226(a) bond hearings. Butler/Mahoning are the primary holding sites for Operation Buckeye arrests out of Columbus, so this ruling is the most direct path to release for people detained here. No Ohio-specific habeas releases applying Lopez-Campos surfaced as of June 2, 2026 — watch this space. See bond-hearing-circuit-split-2026.

Sources

• New Butler County Jail lawsuit alleges assault of ICE detainee - Journal-News (May 18, 2026)
• ‘Butler County is not living in peace’ — activists demand end to sheriff’s ICE contract - WCPO (May 2026)
• Butler County residents continue protest of ICE contract - Oxford Free Press
• How to End ICE Jail in Ohio - Ohio Immigrant Alliance (Apr 20, 2026)
• See also: butler-county-jail-hamilton-oh facility entry; ohio-legislative-response-2026