Butler Officials Back Up Big Talk On Illegal Workers

HAMILTON, Ohio -- Butler County officials are following through on their controversial comments last week on plans to crack down on illegal immigrants, News 5's Bina Roy reported.

Sheriff Richard Jones sent a huge bill to the federal goverment Wednesday for the immigrants housed in his jail.

"This is just the beginning," he said. "Some people say they're undocumented, I say they're here as criminal aliens, and I'm going to charge the federal goverment. Today I'm sending them a bill of over $70,000 just for my end of it."

Starting this week, Butler County deputies can impound any person's car if they don't have a valid driver's license, Social Security number, or are operating a car with illegal tags.

Officials in the county also want to go after businesses who employ illegal immigrants. State Rep. Courtney Combs is working on a law to fine employers who hire undocumented workers.

But one worker said, "We're doing work no one wants -- hard labor under difficult weather conditions."

Jones said he understands why many immigrants might be scared, and that they have good reason to be.

"They probably fear they're going to be deported or they're going to be arrested, and if I had my way, that would be true that they would be deported," he said. "If you want to come to the United States, come here legally."

Jones said he doesn't expect a check from the U.S. Immigration and Customs Department, but he'll continue to bill it monthly, and if that doesn't work, he might take the undocumented immigants to the department in a van.

"If they can't find them, I'm going to show them where they're at -- they're in my jail," he said.

Xiomara Faulkner, of Santa Maria Community Services, said Jones and other Butler County leaders need to understand different cultures.

"Some people are scared because their family members have been here for many, many years," she said. "We need to go back to the roots of what the United States is. If you go back to different generations, you will see that most of us have come from another country."