Oldham County residents question jail's new policy to indefinitely hold illegal immigrants

LA GRANGE, Ky. (WDRB) -- Some Oldham County residents are concerned with how they say the county's jail is dealing with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and its handling of illegal immigrates.

At a fiscal court meeting at the courthouse in La Grange on Tuesday, the topic wasn't on the agenda. But several residents wanted to talk about it anyway.

The issue at hand is a recent change at the Oldham County Detention Center, going from a 72-hour hold for those arrested by ICE to a now full-time hold. ICE's 287-G program trains sworn law enforcement officers to serve paperwork for immigration.

Oldham County Jailer Jeff Tindall was at Tuesday's meeting but declined to speak for this story, only to say he signed a memorandum of agreement back in February.

Oldham County Judge Executive David Voegele said the county cooperates with federal law but it was Tindall who made the decision to be part of the ICE 287-G program, which falls under federal control.

Among those speaking were Michael Slider, a member of Kentucky Citizens for Democracy, who said they're worried some of the arrests are being done just to make money. Slider referred to the $73 per day the jail gets for each federal inmate, which is a federal agreement not exclusive to any ICE agreement, Tindall said.

"We don't think Oldham County should be making money off of this type of behavior," Slider said Tuesday. "We don't want this type of relationship with ICE. Right now, on the ICE website, we are listed as an ICE detention center. I don't take pride in that."

Kentucky Citizens for Democracy said they plan to have other public meetings to discuss the role of ICE in the area.

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