A Lexington city council committee has examined U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement or ICE’S involvement with the Fayette County Jail. The council member requesting the information said it was primarily an awareness effort.
Members of the Planning and Public Safety Committee heard from jail officials last week. 11th District Council Member Jennifer Reynolds
says about 25% of her council district is Spanish speaking. She noted the new federal administration could mean modifications in ICE’s role locally. “I think we’ll see some changes coming from the top down and then from there I do want to keep looking at this and seeing if there’s some things that we can change with our relationship with ICE,” said Reynolds
During the committee presentation, Major Tina Strange with the Fayette County Jail said 57 countries mandate notification of incarceration of foreign-born individuals.
One item discussed was the State Criminal Alien Assistance Program, in which the city receives federal grant money to help offset jail costs. Without it, Jail Director Lisa Farmer said a request would come to council to support re-entry programs. “We would have to ask for money in our budget to cover the programming. Just one example is our GED instructor. In fiscal year 2017, we had to pay $20,000 to have a GED instructor come in for that year and that was from this grant,” noted Farmer.
In addition to ICE inquiries, Lexington jail officials said other requests come from the Drug Enforcement Agency, the U.S. Marshall’s Office, Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms and the Alcoholic Beverage Control.
If you appreciate access to this important content during this global pandemic, please help us continue to provide public service journalism and information to Central and Eastern Kentucky communities. Please make your contribution to WEKU today.
