County Fight Contested

Columbus/Franklin County OH — Anti-ICE measures after Operation Buckeye

Franklin, OH FIPS 39049

Current status: Columbus passed 287(g) ban and detention facility moratorium; courthouse ICE arrests continue

The Fight

Columbus became the epicenter of Ohio’s immigration enforcement controversy after ICE launched “Operation Buckeye” in December 2025, arresting more than 280 people in the Columbus area in one week. The city responded with measures to prevent local police from entering into 287(g) cooperation agreements with ICE and a moratorium on detention facilities. Meanwhile, Franklin County Sheriff and courts continue cooperating with ICE, and activists are pushing judges to bar ICE arrests inside the courthouse.

Key Details

Operation Buckeye: Dec 16-21, 2025; 280+ arrests across Ohio, concentrated in Columbus
Composition: 93% men, 80% Latino; less than 7% had criminal records (per Ohio Immigrant Alliance)
U.S. citizens detained: 2 Puerto Rican U.S. citizens detained during operation
Franklin County Sheriff cooperation: In first half of 2025, jail handed 50 people to ICE (vs 11 in all of 2024)
Courthouse arrests: 20 ICE arrests at Franklin County Municipal Court in 2025; activists pushing for rule change
City response: Columbus passed measures blocking 287(g) agreements and imposing moratorium on private detention centers
Detention ban: Columbus City Council banned ICE detention centers in city limits (confirmed in ACLU “ICE in Ohio” report, March 2026)
Zoning defense: Columbus moving to block construction of private, for-profit detention centers through zoning/permitting
Student protests: Central Ohio high school students protested ICE; teacher unions condemned ICE activity near schools (Jan 2026)
Total central Ohio arrests: 701+ in 2025 (421 Jan-Oct + 280 Operation Buckeye)
ACLU lawsuit: ACLU Ohio + partners sued ICE/DHS over warrantless arrests (March 19, 2026) — Columbus arrests cited as evidence
April 13, 2026 jail-contract standoff: Columbus City Council Public Safety Committee chair Emmanuel Remy referred the routine $2M annual jail-services contract with Franklin County back to committee, citing unanswered questions about Sheriff Dallas Baldwin’s ICE-cooperation policies. After weeks of public testimony, Council ultimately approved the $2M payment in late April 2026 — extracting no policy concessions on the sheriff’s pro-ICE posture. Confirms the city-county split: Columbus has the political will but limited fiscal leverage over the county sheriff.

Cross-References

This entry covers Columbus city’s policy response to Operation Buckeye (287(g) ban, detention moratorium, jail-contract standoff). The county-level cooperation that continues despite the city policy — 20 ICE arrests inside Franklin County Municipal Court in 2025, Sheriff Baldwin handing 50 detainees to ICE in H1 2025 — is documented in the sister entry Franklin County OH — Courthouse Arrests. Same FIPS (39049), distinct angles: the city-county split is the substantive finding.

Sources

This research is published at The RAMM — investigative reporting on the detention pipeline.

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