The number of detainees held by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) in the Knox County jail increased by as much as 300% over the average last month, as a new contract between the county and the federal government, referred to as an IGSA (intergovernmental service agreement) took effect, for which the county is paid $67 per day for every ICE detainee.
The county has not been paid before to hold ICE detainees, and activists are worried by the spike because they believe that a further crackdown on immigrants is being motivated by money. Both former and current law enforcement officials claim that the new arrangement is in the best interests of the county by expediting the deportation of undocumented immigrants and that the payments do not even cover the full costs of holding the detainees.
There were 72 immigrant detainees held by the county in August, but almost ten have been taken into custody in the first few days of September. The same number of detainees are being arrested by the county as was the case under the previous program. But now, dozens of ICE detainees and holds from nearby counties and law enforcement agencies are also being accepted, resulting in Knox County becoming a hub where ICE detainees can be held before transportation to Louisiana and eventual deportation from the US.
Jimmy JJ Jones, the former Sheriff of Knox County, says that Knox County is not making money from the arrangement but that the cost of housing the detainees is at least now supplemented.