Jones said it doesn’t matter how many people sign the petition, it will be his decision as to when the sign comes down, just as it was his decision to repost it once President Donald Trump was elected to a second term.
Sam Hibbard of Hamilton posted the Change.org petition on Friday, Jan. 31, and on Tuesday at least 947 people had electronically signed the petition asking some authority to have the sign removed.
“Our community is one built on love, understanding, and respect for the dignity of all persons,” Hibbard wrote on the petition. “We take pride in the inclusive nature of our community, one that does not discriminate, but embraces all its citizens.”
He called the sign “a symbol of discord, division and prejudice persists in our community” and believes it only serves to “dehumanize, alienate and belittle” the contributions of immigrants as a whole.
“It creates an us-versus-them dichotomy that does not reflect the unity our community stands for,” he wrote.
The sheriff said he took down the sign four year because of the Biden Administration. The sheriff said former President Joe Biden “had no immigration policy.” And if the sign ever does come down while he’s sheriff, it will be his decision, and not an online petition or protest.
Jones said around 1,400 people who were in the country illegally over the past 12 months have been arrested in Butler County, which he added costs the country “millions of dollars” as they navigate the legal process.
“I want people to know that in my community and in the United States there are illegals here. People sometimes think because we don’t live on the border that doesn’t affect us, but it does,” he said. “I want them out of there. I want them to be deported, which most of them are, and I wanted to put the sign back up to let people know there are illegal aliens here and they’re in my jail and in my community.”
Jones said he will always use the term alien until the law changes or President Trump uses another term. The sheriff is in discussion with the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement to renew its contracts. He terminated the previous contracts — one to hold prisoners and one to take part in joint task force and apprehensions — in 2021 at the start of the Biden Administration.
Jones said he recently returned from Washington, D.C., and a group of other county sheriffs met with Trump’s border czar Tom Homan this past weekend and said they were told there will be more immigration raids at businesses.
“Basically, if you hire illegals, there’s going to be more raids on employers,” Jones said.
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