10-06-2025
25 women in Kentucky jail on immigration charges amid heated ICE protests nationwide
KENTUCKY (FOX 56) — Tensions are high across the nation as protestors continue to push back against the Trump Administration's efforts to crack down on illegal immigration.
Over the weekend, dozens of people were booked into the Laurel County Correctional Center under immigration charges.
According to the jail's website, 25 Hispanic women, arrested by the Department of Homeland Security, were placed in the correctional center Sunday morning.
Dr. Judah Schept, an Eastern Kentucky University professor who specializes in justice studies, said that the number of people detained in a county jail on immigration charges is striking but not too surprising, given the way he said immigration detention works in America.
He explained that federal agencies like the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) often have intergovernmental service agreements with local law enforcement.
'Which, basically, is like a memorandum of understanding between different agencies that empowers the local jail to essentially act as an immigration custody facility,' said Schept.
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Neighbors Immigration Clinic, an advocacy group for immigrants, noted that for years, Laurel County has served as a stop for ICE agents en route to other detention centers.
Schept said this partnership can benefit local jails financially.
'That money is essentially revenue that goes to Laurel County that can go to managing the daily operations of its jail, but can also sort of pass through the jail and go into the county's operating budget to use as they see fit,' Schept added.
As for the women who are currently in the Laurel County jail, we have searched for online records to find out why, but there is no documented explanation, nor is there evidence of an ICE raid.
Schept said it is very possible that none of these women are from Laurel County or even Kentucky, and they may not be here much longer.
'So it could be that these 25 women were in Laurel County today. It could be that they're in Kenton County Jail, another jail system in Kentucky that works with ICE tomorrow. And then they're off to a different ice facility on Wednesday,' Schept added.
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This comes on the heels of heated ICE protests in Los Angeles over the weekend, with another rally in Washington, D.C., on Monday.
Schept said it's deeply troubling yet inspiring to see people standing up for what they believe, saying it should be a wake-up call for what's happening in our own state.
'There's other arrests and raids that are happening around the region. And so, I think we should both be looking at what's happening in Los Angeles and looking at what's happening in our own communities and in our backyards,' Schept concluded.
FOX 56 contacted the Laurel County Correctional Center and the Department of Homeland Security for more information on the arrests, but has not received a response.
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