On Feb. 26, I was one of 25 or 30 community activists and leaders who drove to Stryker to attend the meeting of the five-county board that controls the Corrections Center of Northwest Ohio. We attended to speak to the board about their pending decision on whether to house and help deport ICE detainees.
They knew we were coming since they had clearly prepared for us to be there. They had police taped the parking lot. They were prepared to screen us with metal detectors. They had chairs awaiting us in the boardroom. Nevertheless, we were denied the opportunity to speak, based on a policy that five days prior notice is required to allow the public to be heard at their meetings.
Lucas County Commissioner Pete Gerken and Sheriff Mike Navarre both spoke eloquently against the proposed contract with ICE. They asked whether any undocumented person must now be considered a “criminal.” The public should know more about the process of how ICE detainees end up in our jail instead of in other facilities.
As a physician with public health expertise, I wanted to ask questions about infectious disease screening and the potential for flu or the coronavirus to spread rapidly in the closed conditions of the jail. Where would detainees be cared for if they needed medical attention? Who will make sure that they have the medications they need and that they can obtain them regularly if needed?
CCNO has a policy to not take dangerous detainees of any sort. Commissioner Gerken said he and Sheriff Navarre will be watching to make sure this is the case for anyone housed at Stryker. He noted that Trump has originally claimed that ICE was only sweeping up the criminal immigrants. Trump has also canceled asylum hearings.
Commissioner Gerken noted that the high payments that ICE will give to CCNO are a good “business deal,” but he and Sheriff Navarre voted against the contract with ICE noting the legal, social, and moral consequences for the detainees, their spouses, their children and their local communities.
Pope Francis has critiqued the Trump/Vance immigration policy. “The Son of God, in becoming man, also chose to live the drama of immigration,” the Pope wrote.
The jail will be getting $117 a day per detainee. That’s about the same price as the present day value of the 30 pieces of silver that the Romans offered for Jesus. We should all reflect on what we are about to do for 30 pieces of silver.
DR. JOHNATHON ROSS
Board Member of the Toledo Area Jobs with Justice
Ottawa Hills
First Published March 5, 2025, 5:00 a.m.
