Cincinnati-area judge says he calls ICE when he suspects defendants could be here illegally
A judge in southwest Ohio says he regularly calls U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) on defendants in his courtroom when he suspects they could be in the country illegally. "I call ICE in a minute. I have no problem calling ICE," said Hamilton County Common Pleas Court Judge Robert Ruehlman. Ruehlman said he calls ICE "10 to 20" times a year.
"I do. I do not think every judge does that. I think I'm the only judge that does that, but I do. I think it's important," Ruehlman said. Ruehlman's comments come a week after reports surfaced that federal agents in plain clothes often enter the Hamilton County courthouse to detain migrants.
Ruehlman described the criteria he uses to suspect a person could be here illegally. "It's not racial profiling. It's just common sense," Ruehlman said. "They speak Spanish, they're charged with carrying a lot of drugs, and they're not from here (Hamilton County). It's pretty clear they're illegal immigrants, you know,
and if it turns out they are a citizen, then there's no harm, no foul."
"I call them (ICE). I say, 'I think we have an illegal immigrant here.' And they confirm it," Ruehlman said. "I give them the name and birthdate and where they're from. They run them. They say, 'Yeah.' Then they go to the jail and they put a holder on them." (A holder prevents someone from bailing out before trial)
"But I resolve my case first and send them to prison on my case first and usually they (ICE) let them serve their sentence and then ICE gets them," Ruehlman said.
https://www.10news.com/news/national/cincinnati-area-judge-says-he-calls-ice-when-he-suspects-defendants-could-be-here-illegally
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