BUTLER COUNTY, Ohio — New concerns are being raised about medical care for ICE detainees housed inside an Ohio jail.

Advocates say immigrants held at the Butler County Jail are being denied critical medications, while the sheriff says those claims are false.

What You Need To Know

  • Family friends of an ICE detainee say detainees inside the Butler County Jail are not being given critical medications they need even after bringing medicines to the jail 

  • The sheriff denies claims of medical neglect and says anyone in there can see a doctor and get medicine 

  • State leaders are calling for more oversight, but the state says the jail passed the most recent inspection last month

Every week, Hillary Davis has been making a two-hour drive to the Butler County Jail with medicine in her hand.

“I feel sad, very sad; it’s just very disheartening coming here,” said Davis. 

She’s bringing it to a family friend after he was picked up by ICE.

“There were drones flying around the area to find them, and they came into a house that they were working in and just took them,” said Davis. 

She asked Spectrum News not to use names because her family friend is still in a jail cell. She said he’s been an ICE detainee for the last month without that medicine.

“He is a diabetic, and he wanted his medications, and he still has not received those medications,” said Davis. “We got his A1C down from a high level to a very low level, and now it’s in jeopardy.”

Advocates say he’s not alone.

“We’ve gotten calls from over 300 people around the state in the last year that we’ve been helping. And it’s people from all over, every corner, but the Butler County Jail is the one where we get the calls about the most and this medical neglect is the biggest issue,” said Lynn Tramonte with Ohio Immigrant Alliance. 

It’s an issue that caught the attention of state representatives. They sent a letter to the sheriff last week demanding more oversight, citing medical concerns and overcrowding.

The sheriff refutes those claims.

“We have medical staff here; we have a doctor, we have a dentist, we have nurses, we have paramedics and everybody that needs medication, prescribed medication, everybody gets it,” said Butler County Sheriff Richard Jones. 

The Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction said the jail passed a December inspection and was also approved to house more inmates, but the state says it will investigate any specific complaints that come from inside the jail.

“They’re (detainees) human beings and they deserve basic human rights,” said Davis.