Mchenry County Sheriff: No Migrant Children To Be Housed In County Jail

As the immigration debate rages on across the nation, McHenry County Sheriff Bill Prim said no migrant children or families will be placed in the McHenry County Adult Correctional Facility. "The (jail) is not certified for juvenile detention and I have no intention or desire to pursue the lengthy and costly process to train our correctional officers or alter the physical space of the jail in order to obtain such certification," Prim said in a statement. Prim said the facility will house no children, no matter their "legal provenance." Any juvenile who is ordered into detention in McHenry County Juvenile Court will be transported that same day to the Kane County Juvenile Detention Center, which has a custody agreement with McHenry County, according to Prim's statement. Prim said Immigration and Customs Enforcement detainees the jail holds under contract to the federal government are "persons whose immigration status is in doubt and who have been arrested for other crimes within the U.S." "The individuals who have been caught up in the recent border disputes are, in most cases, in custody due to their immigration status alone, or for reasons related to a claim for asylum, and therefore unlike the typical ICE detainee at the MCACF," Prim said. Prim doubled down on his stance in an interview with the Northwest Herald. "We are not going to be receiving children or families," Prim said, adding that it would require construction of new spaces, retraining and adding staff and certifications. On Sunday, hundreds of area residents attended the Families Belong Together rally in Woodstock.