A Hamilton man who was driving to his child’s first birthday party remains in Butler County Jail despite his family posting bond, after Immigration and Customs Enforcement placed a hold on him following a traffic stop, according to his relatives.
The man, identified in local coverage only as Alfonso, was pulled over for speeding and charged with misdemeanor child endangerment, according to his family. While relatives posted his $1,500 bond, they learned hours later that ICE had issued a hold at the Butler County Jail, blocking his release.
Alfonso’s relatives told WKRC that officers initially brushed off questions about any ICE involvement. The family said Alfonso has Temporary Protected Status, has applied for asylum, and is terrified of being returned to Venezuela.
Local immigrant-rights advocates say the case demonstrates how a low-level arrest can quickly trigger federal immigration action for anyone whose status is unsettled.
ICE relies on detainer and notification forms to ask local jails to give federal agents a window to take someone into custody, according to ICE guidance. The forms are designed to allow up to roughly 48 hours for a transfer and are officially meant to be limited in scope and connected to the agency’s enforcement priorities.
However, national immigration organizations warn that detainers are often misunderstood and can result in people being held much longer than that window. The National Immigration Forum notes that detainers are administrative requests, not signed by a judge like a criminal warrant, and that they have been issued in minor cases as well as serious ones.
The Butler County Sheriff’s Office says its Corrections Center on Hanover Street houses contracted federal detainees, including people held for ICE, and maintains a public online roster for the jail. Earlier this year, FOX19 reported on the county’s renewed cooperation with ICE, noting that sheriff’s deputies had been credentialed to make immigration arrests on ICE’s behalf.
Advocates at the time warned that move could ramp up immigration enforcement stemming from routine traffic stops and everyday police encounters.
Alfonso’s immigration situation unfolds against a complex legal backdrop involving Temporary Protected Status for Venezuelans. An order in the nationwide TPS lawsuit is publicly available in federal court records, and challengers have won rulings that questioned the Department of Homeland Security’s efforts to roll back certain TPS protections.
Coverage from SCOTUSblog shows the dispute has bounced from district court to a federal appeals court and up to the Supreme Court, leaving many TPS recipients in a state of legal limbo.
Under federal regulation 8 C.F.R. § 287.7 and related agency guidance, an ICE detainer is a request that a jail notify the agency or briefly keep someone in custody so ICE can arrange a transfer. Congressional and legal analyses point out that in practice, people can end up detained far longer if ICE does not promptly assume custody or if local agencies go beyond the narrow time limits that detainers contemplate.
According to WKRC, Alfonso’s family planned a small rally outside Hamilton Municipal Court for his next hearing. They hope that public pressure, plus swift action in the criminal case, might prevent a transfer to ICE custody.
Advocates working with the family are asking attorneys and community organizers to attend the hearing and to demand clarity about any ICE requests tied to his case.
The case highlights the intersection between local criminal proceedings and federal immigration enforcement, particularly as it affects individuals with pending immigration cases in the current legal environment surrounding Venezuelan TPS protections.
