FRANKFORT, Ky. — Immigration was an issue during this year’s presidential election. As the country welcomes a new leader, Kentucky lawmakers heard from an Immigration and Customs Enforcement official on the agency’s work in the commonwealth.

What You Need To Know

  • Lawmakers in Frankfort heard from an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) official Tuesday

  • Kentucky has 27 ICE officers who cover the state and southern Indiana

  • Lawmakers asked several questions concerning the immigration and deportation process 

While Kentucky does not sit close to the U.S.-Mexico border, it is still home of more than two dozen Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers. 

“Here in Kentucky, specifically, we only have 27 law enforcement officers to enforce immigration laws throughout the entire commonwealth and southern portion of Indiana,” said Jeremy Bacon of the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency.

Bacon answered several questions Tuesday morning from lawmakers on ICE’s role in the state, including what happens when non-citizens are arrested by law enforcement. 

“This has been an ongoing topic from administration to administration, but there is no federal law that requires notification to ICE if someone is foreign born, booked into their jail,” Bacon said.

“It seems very elementary that if an illegal immigrant is arrested that sheriffs and police officers should be able to report that person and that person would have to leave the country because they violated the law," said State Sen. Robby Mills, R-Henderson. "And that’s just not how it works right now." 

Bacon also addressed deportations, which he said are not always a guarantee for someone accused of violating the law. 

“If it's someone who is simply here undocumented that has never been through the immigration process, they get their right to be heard before an immigration judge," Bacon said. "Those proceedings do not happen quickly." 

“Even if they're a threat to society?” Mills asked.

“100%, even if they were a threat to society,” Bacon replied.

Bacon added if ICE wants to deport someone, but their country of origin refuses to accept them back, they are released from custody. 

“If they are not subject to removal from the United States, we can no longer hold them lawfully,” Bacon said.

Mills said he believes President-elect Donald Trump's incoming administration will address some of these issues. 

“There’s just a lot of mystery involved in what actually happens with an illegal immigrant over the last four years,” Mills said.

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