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A group calling itself Kentucky Citizens for Democracy (KCFD) is concerned about the proposed partnership between the Oldham County Sheriff’s Department and the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) organization, and is holding a town hall to call attention to it.
The partnership with ICE falls under ICE’s 287-g program, which allows local law enforcement to act as immigration enforcement agents. ICE pays for training the officers, but all other personnel costs are borne by the local law enforcement agency. (However, there is a separate agreement regarding reimbursement for housing federal inmates.)
The “About Us” on the group’s website says that “Our group was formed out of our common concern for the alarming speed in which our country is turning towards authoritarianism in the wake of the MAGA movement and Donald Trump’s 2nd term as President. ... We came together because we did not want to feel helpless and hopeless in the face of this assault on our Constitution and civil society. Our goal is to try and figure out ways that everyday citizens like ourselves can stand up to a movement that we believe is trying to destroy what is left of our Constitutional Republic.”
The town hall about the 287-g partnership will be Thursday, April 10, from 6:30 pm to 8:30 pm at the John Black Center in LaGrange.
In a press release about the town hall, KCFD asserts that “Whether local law enforcement officials realize it or not, much of our Hispanic community in Oldham County is living in fear. During the past month, we have spent a lot of time speaking with local charitable and religious organizations, who, for obvious reasons, wish to remain unnamed. The stories have been heartbreaking.”
The press release theorizes that one reason for the partnership could be financial, as one local official told the group that Oldham County receives $73 a day for each inmate they house for the federal government.
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Additional Information
Tyler Whetstone
