This article first appeared at Ohio Capital Journal
One Ohio-based Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer was convicted this year of abusing women and another was arrested on such charges. That has an advocate for immigrants calling on the agency to explain what it’s doing to screen agents as it seeks to rapidly grow its ranks.
ICE didn’t respond when asked that question.
President Donald Trump came into office promising to deport what he claimed were undocumented, violent criminals.
But NPR reported last week that more than a third of those arrested — about 74,000 — had no criminal records.
Of the rest, about half have pending charges and half have convictions. Most of the convictions are for low-level offenses such as traffic violations, the news organization reported.
As they’ve tried to conduct mass detentions and deportations, the conduct of ICE agents has been controversial.
They’ve been accused of violently arresting people, including some who are in the country legally. And CBS News reported that masked agents have used tactics during protests that violate federal policy and a court order.
Lynn Tramonte, founder of the Ohio Immigrant Alliance, said ICE agents have been accused of violence against women closer to home.
In March, a federal judge sentenced deportation agent Andrew Golobic to 12 years in prison.
A jury convicted him of “using his position to solicit and coerce sex from vulnerable women under his supervision” during his 14 years in the Blue Ash ICE office, federal prosecutors said.
In October, NBC reported that in the agency’s rush to staff up, some agents have reported for training without being fully vetted.
On Dec. 5, the Hamilton County Prosecutor’s office charged Samuel Saxon, 47, with assault, domestic violence and strangulation of his partner, WVXU reported.
In the 18 months that the ICE agent has been based in Cincinnati, police have been dispatched to his house during disputes 23 times, prosecutors said.
In one incident, Saxon’s partner’s pelvis was fractured, although no charges were filed, they said.
Tramonte said it’s disturbing that a federal agency would put such people in positions of power over others.
“There’s a real problem with gender-based violence by ICE agents, and the agency is not taking it seriously,” Tramonte said last week in a written statement.
“Andrew Golobic used his position of power against women who feared deportation to extort sex. The police have been called to Samuel Saxon’s home 22 times… Anyone familiar with the pattern of domestic violence knows strangulation is part of a pattern of escalating behavior that often ends in murder.”
Saxon’s attorney told WXIX that his client had been suspended from his job.
Tramonte said ICE needs to explain internal procedures that allowed Saxon to keep his job after having so many brushes with the law.
“This is an agency that demonizes immigrants who have committed no crimes, yet it fails to police its own ranks,” she said.
“The hypocrisy is breathtaking, and the threat to public safety is clear. We want answers from the Detroit ICE Field Office and Cincinnati Local Office: Do ICE agents have to inform their employer when they come under scrutiny by other law enforcement agencies? If no, why not?”
