Rumors of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) activity locally have been circulating on social media this week, including claims that ICE agents were in town and that certain locations had been targeted. However, local officials say there is no evidence of active ICE operations in Daviess County.
The rumors appear to have emerged, at least in part, due to public jail data showing a noticeable short-term increase in inmates at the Daviess County Detention Center listed as federal detainees or on hold for other agencies, including ICE. Officials said the increase is tied to federal housing and court logistics, not local immigration enforcement.
Officials also emphasized that an ICE detainer reflects federal custody or notification requests tied to immigration proceedings and does not, by itself, indicate an arrest by ICE, a recent enforcement action, or a determination that someone is undocumented.
Why federal inmate numbers can increase
DCDC Jailer Art Maglinger said the detention center’s interaction with ICE is limited to the federal detainer and housing process and does not involve active enforcement in the community.
“DCDC has an Intergovernmental Agreement with the U.S. Marshals Service to house federal prisoners,” Maglinger said. “While ICE is a separate federal agency, they are able to house inmates at jails that have agreements with the U.S. Marshals. The inmates being held for ICE are also federal prisoners.”
According to Maglinger, the overwhelming majority of ICE-related federal detainees currently and/or recently housed at DCDC were not arrested locally.
“To my knowledge, there has not been any local roundup here in our community leading to the increased number of prisoners,” he said. “Most of the federal prisoners held for ICE were arrested elsewhere and are being held here pending court hearings.”
Maglinger said DCDC routinely works with ICE, the U.S. Marshals Service, and other federal agencies to coordinate inmate transfers for court appearances, housing needs, and logistical reasons. He said those transfers can cause short-term population increases that may appear sudden when viewed over a brief period.
How ICE detainers work
Maglinger said an ICE detainer does not mean a person was arrested by ICE, nor does it indicate a determination has been made about their immigration status.
“It only means there is an ICE hold on that inmate, who may have been arrested by other agencies,” he said.
When DCDC receives a detainer while an inmate is still in custody, the jail honors it, Maglinger said. However, if the detainer is received after an inmate has already been released on local charges, the jail cannot enforce it because they are no longer in DCDC custody.
DCDC does not independently investigate immigration status and is not part of any ICE task force program, Maglinger said.
“Our facility cooperates with ICE, which involves the processing and housing of individuals already arrested on state and/or local criminal charges,” he said. “This is a standard process and is not a new or immediate action by federal agents or local law enforcement in our community.”
Sheriff: No active ICE operations locally
Daviess County Sheriff Brad Youngman said his office has not been asked to assist with immigration enforcement or surveillance in recent weeks and that rumors of ICE raids in Owensboro are unfounded.
“This is at least the fourth time this year I have been asked about ICE coming to town, and just as with all of the previous times, I can confirm that it is not true,” Youngman said.
Youngman said the sheriff’s office does have a limited agreement to assist ICE, similar to partnerships with other federal agencies, but only in specific cases involving national security threats or serious crimes.
“Our area does not have many undocumented immigrants that meet the criteria for us to become involved,” he said. “Our agreement with ICE is very similar to the other federal agencies that we participate in task forces with, such as the U.S. Marshals and ATF. That is, we help them in ways that benefit the safety of our community, but we stop short of doing their job for them. Our personnel are doing their DCSO job during the vast majority of their time.”
Youngman said unverified social media posts can create unnecessary fear in the community.
“With all of the bad information that is being circulated, I completely understand the concerns. Every time these rumors about a giant ICE raid circulate, it scares people and causes unnecessary and unwelcome anxiety,” he said. “I would once again strongly caution people against getting their information from unverified sources, especially social media posts.”
ICE response pending
Owensboro Times contacted ICE’s public affairs office via email seeking clarification on enforcement activity, detainer numbers, and agency practices. A spokesperson said they were working on a response but that it had to go through an approval process. OT had not received answers to the questions at the time of publication.
