ACLU of Ohio Releases Report on Rapid ICE Expansion in Ohio in Year One of President Trump’s Second Term

COLUMBUS – The ACLU of Ohio released a new report, ICE in Ohio, showing a dramatic expansion of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) contracts in Ohio during year one of President Trump’s second term. Over the course of 2025, the ACLU of Ohio sent 38 public records requests to county commissioners, sheriff’s offices, county jails, local police departments and the Corrections Center of Northwest Ohio (CCNO) across 17 Ohio counties, ultimately discovering that the presence of ICE has increased significantly in a twelve-month period.

The research includes an analysis of a variety of contracts between various counties and municipalities and ICE and/or the U.S. Marshals Service related to immigration enforcement, transportation, and detention: (1) jail bed space contracts, (2) jail transport services, and (3) 287(g) agreements [jail enforcement model, task force model, and warrant service officer model.]

Key Findings include:

• Ohio began 2025 with no 287(g) agreements, by the end of the year there were 12 unique agreements between either county sheriff’s offices or local police departments across 11 counties;

• In total, 14 counties, or a municipality therein, and the CCNO (which covers Defiance, Fulton, Henry, Lucas, and Wiliams Counties) have at least one type of contract with ICE and/or the U.S. Marshals Service;

• On any given day, ICE has access to 1,272 jail beds across Ohio;

• If every bed available to ICE was full every day of the year, the total cost to the federal taxpayer would be $54,343, 113;

• 1,618,470 Ohioans (13.7% of population) live in a county where the sheriff and/or police department(s) have a 287(g) agreement as of January 26, 2026.

"We knew that anti-immigration efforts would be a hallmark of President Trump’s second term, but our findings reveal how severely Ohio's landscape has shifted in just one year. Our research also highlights the level of depravity regarding costs – we found there is a significant financial incentive for local governments to participate in Trump’s mass deportation machine,” offered Jocelyn Rosnick, Chief Policy and Advocacy Officer for the ACLU of Ohio.

“Ohio officials have a legal obligation to provide information to the public about their partnerships with federal agencies. The collaboration between local governments and ICE undermines public safety, destabilizes communities, and supports Trump’s inhumane anti-immigrant agenda,” added Amy Gilbert, Senior Staff Attorney for the ACLU of Ohio.

“There are people sitting in jails across Ohio who have not, and never will be, charged with a crime. They are there for 'civil immigration purposes.' But they're still in jail, and our federal tax dollars are still paying for it. This is an illogical and extreme immigration policy. Instead of using state and local police to deport as many people as possible, our leaders in Washington, DC should do their jobs. Create an immigration system that actually functions fairly and well. Here in Ohio, state and local police should stay focused on their core mission — public safety — not helping the Trump administration tear families apart,” noted Lynn Tramonte, Executive Director, Ohio Immigrant Alliance.

Earlier this month, the Ohio Immigrant Alliance released a report about the Ohio Immigrant Hotline and the types of incidents they helped Ohioans grapple with in the first year of the Trump administration. Calls and emails about state and local police working with ICE and the Border Patrol were the second most-common call, after ICE or Border Patrol sightings.

The ACLU of Ohio sent cautionary letters to all Ohio entities that have at least one type of active 287(g) agreement, jail bed space, or jail transport services contract with ICE and/or the U.S. Marshals Services urging them to rescind all current engagements.

Read the full report