Captain Jason Johnson with Greene County Sheriff’s Office confirms that as of Tuesday, Greene County Jail was being used to hold 176 people apprehended by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, commonly known as ICE.
The sheriff’s office says ICE apprehended some of the detainees locally, while others were taken into custody in Chicago, St. Louis and Kansas City. The sheriff’s office says it’s not clear how long these detainees might be in the local jail and that a federal judge will decide whether they’re deported to other countries.
The jail has set aside roughly 300 beds for ICE detainees, depending on how many state and local arrestees are in custody, says Captain Johnson in a written statement. Costs for each federal detainee are reimbursed at $100 dollars per day by the U.S. taxpayer.
Last month Greene County Sheriff Jim Arnott told Ozarks Public Radio his office would work with President Donald Trump’s administration on immigration enforcement.
During the presidential campaign, then-candidate Trump promised the “largest mass deportation program” in U.S. history.
Think tanks estimate some 12 million unauthorized migrants live in the United States.
