Federal immigration detainee Emerson Colindres was removed from the Butler County Jail early Tuesday and taken to an Ohio airport for deportation, Sheriff Richard Jones told Enquirer media partner FOX19 NOW.
Colindres, 19, was moved around 1:30 or 2:30 a.m., a jail supervisor said.
“The sheriffs office transported him and other ICE prisoners from the jail to an airport in Ohio for deportation,” Jones told FOX19 NOW.
He declined to identify the airport.
”They go to several countries,” Jones said. “It depends where they are from. We never do them on the same days or times for security reasons. He went through the court process. The law is the law. At this point, there are no exceptions.
”To me he was just like any other deportee. I have lots of 19 year olds, 20-year-olds, 18-year-olds, in my jail, both U.S. citizens and illegal aliens. I have them in my jail for smaller and larger crimes.”
“It’s sad this country has allowed this to take place, these people coming in here illegally and now we have to deal with it.”
The sheriff is expecting more protests over immigration.
”It’s going to be a long summer with anger, more protests and riots,” he said.
FOX19 NOW also reached out to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and other federal agencies and the White House for comment.
They have not heard back yet from ICE and the Department of Homeland Security (DHS).
A spokeswoman for the U.S. Department of Justice referred request for comment from U.S. Attorney Pam Bondi to DHS.
ICE arrested Colindres and booked him into the Butler County Jail on June 4.
Butler County is one of just a handful of Ohio jails that house ICE prisoners.
As of Tuesday morning, 411 ICE prisoners are there, according to a sheriff’s spokeswoman.
Colindres’ deportation comes just hours after dozens of people gathered for an emergency protest outside the jail to support the 19-year-old Cincinnati soccer star amid fears his transfer out of state to another ICE facility was imminent.
He has no criminal record, but federal immigration authorities detained him earlier this month during an appointment for a routine check-in with ICE agents at their Blue Ash office and to get fitted for a GPS ankle monitor.
Colindres came to the U.S. from Honduras when he was 8 years old and has been living with his mother and teenage sister in Cheviot after graduating from Cincinnati Public Schools.
Fleeing persecution from gangs, Colindres’ mother, Baquedano Amador, has said she applied for asylum when she arrived in this country with her son and now-16-year-old daughter in 2014.
A judge denied her application and the family was given a final order of removal in 2023.
ICE officials recently told his mother that she and her daughter must leave the country within 30 days.
His mother told protesters Monday night her son told her he would be moved soon.
“When Emerson called me today, he said, ‘Mom, they’re going to move me,’” she told the crowd.
“I can’t imagine the fear he’s feeling. As a mother, you know your kids.”
Catholic Charities Southwestern Ohio says an attorney representing Colindres is affiliated with their organization.
They released the following statement on Monday:
“We have been asked to provide representation for Emerson Colindres as his immigration attorney in his removal defense. Our client informed us earlier today that he is being moved. This is all we know, despite repeated attempts to learn more. We are deeply concerned about this action being taken prior to a decision on motions filed in this case, especially in light of the genuine concern the community has for this young man.”
This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Sheriff: 19-year-old ICE detainee taken to airport ‘for deportation’