Sheriffs in seven states have turned their jails into ICE detention centers amid a national surge in immigration enforcement, The New York Times reports.
Immigration and Customs Enforcement is holding about 59,000 people, far exceeding the agency’s capacity of 41,500 beds, according to internal government data obtained by CBS News, making jails a convenient tool for the federal government.
“We’re essential,” Jonathan Thompson, executive director and CEO of the National Sheriffs’ Association, told the news outlet. “ICE can’t do what they need to do under the current circumstances without sheriffs and our jails.”
Added Bob Gualtieri, the sheriff in Pinellas County, Florida: “ICE doesn’t have the capacity for what they’re doing. You can deputize tons of local cops, but if the system doesn’t have enough room, what are you doing?”
Jails are often the first stop for ICE detainees; these lockups specifically fill a gap in the Midwest, where there are few detention centers.
The Department of Homeland Security has contracted with many jails to hold immigrants though most of the sheriffs signing up are in red states or from Republican-led areas of blue states, reports the Times.
Legal groups and immigrant advocates have decried the use of jails, saying they are not equipped to handle immigrants.
“At the county jails, oversight was complicated, and there were concerns about mixing civil immigration detainees with criminal inmates, and bad things were happening,” said Claire Trickler-McNulty, a former ICE official who served in Republican and Democrat administrations.
“The thinking was: Let’s reduce the number of county jails and focus on building civil detention.”
Tricia McLaughlin, assistant secretary for public affairs at the Department of Homeland Security, told the Times that “if county jails are good enough to hold U.S. citizens, then they are sure good enough to hold illegal aliens.”
© 2025 Newsmax. All rights reserved.
