March 17, 2020 10:40p
(WGTD)---At the Kenosha County Detention Center near the airport, it’s good riddance to ICE.
20 years ago, county officials decided it was a no brainer to house detainees from Immigration and Customs Enforcement in empty dorms at the county-owned Detention Center. But the $70 per diem that was agreed to back then has never been raised.
Kenosha County Sheriff Dave Beth said he’s had mixed feelings about the benefits of the arrangement for some time now. "We've had meetings, the last two days especially," Beth said. "We're coming to realize that the immigration (deal) was a huge burden on our staff, facility and our finance and every part that ties in to it--the lawsuits that they (the detainees) generate because they don't want to be deported back."
Matters came to a head last week when Beth refused to accept any new ICE detainees because of the coronavirus.
Two days later, in the middle of the night, ICE came with buses and vans and removed all 170 ICE inmates. Some went to a jail in Kankakee, Illinois while others were shipped to Texas.
Beth said his jailers were relieved to see the inmates go.
From a financial perspective, the county will no longer have to pay jailers overtime, and will be able to stop looking for people to fill 13 vacant positions.
Beth says he thinks that in the long run the departure of ICE inmates will mean a wash for the county.
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