Butler County Sheriff Richard Jones has spent more than two decades making immigration enforcement central to his public profile.
He has worked with federal immigration officials under multiple presidential administrations, housed immigration detainees in the county jail and, more recently, entered into new agreements with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement as the Trump administration has expanded immigration enforcement.
But Jones, a vocal supporter of tougher immigration enforcement, says the Trump administration did not always get its approach right during the president's second term.
“Now, has [immigration enforcement] been kind of messed up when they first started this under [Trump's] 2nd term? Sure they have,” Jones said Wednesday during an interview with WCPO Butler County reporter Stephen Knobel about his new book, “They Call Me Jonesy: Let’s Get Real About Saving America.”
“Did they go about it in the wrong way? Sure they did,” he said.
Jones said the administration has since changed personnel and adopted what he described as a “softer approach,” which he said is a “good approach.”
His criticism was not a rejection of the administration's broader immigration goals. Jones remains an outspoken advocate for stricter immigration enforcement and says the country's immigration system is fundamentally broken.
WATCH: See the full conversation with Sheriff Richard Jones about his new book, “They Call Me Jonesy: Let’s Get Real About Saving America,” and his views on immigration, social media and the future of America.
Instead, Jones said the federal government must balance enforcement with how people are treated while detained.
“You can’t deport 20, 25 million people,” Jones said, referring to his estimate of the number of people in the country illegally. “I don’t even think [Trump's] deported maybe over a million.”
Jones said roughly 450 people in his jail were being held on immigration matters and that approximately 6,000 people had been deported from the Butler County Jail during the roughly 18- to 19-month period preceding the interview.
Jones says enforcement can be firm and humane
The Butler County Sheriff's Office has housed federal immigration detainees for years and has continued its cooperation with ICE under the Trump administration.
Jones also has a 287(g) agreement with ICE, which allows trained local officers to perform certain immigration-enforcement duties under federal supervision.
Jones has faced criticism over the role his jail plays in federal immigration enforcement, including criticism over the treatment of detainees.
WCPO asked how he can enforce immigration law while maintaining dignity for people in custody. Jones said he applies the same standard to everyone arrested and detained at the jail.
“If you’re here illegally, you’re here illegally,” he said. “You shouldn’t be here.”
In January 2026, several Ohio lawmakers asked the Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction to address what they described as overcrowding, poor food service, inadequate heating and other conditions at the jail. They cited an earlier state inspection.
Jones disputes those criticisms. He pointed to inspections by judges, lawmakers and other officials and said the jail is clean and the food is nutritious.
That includes the jail's “Warden Burger,” a meal Jones has defended as nutritious and discusses in his book.
Jones says Trump won because of immigration
Jones' support for Trump's immigration policies is longstanding.
In his book, he described Trump as a “real leader” and told WCPO he likes Trump's bluntness, his willingness to say what he thinks, and what Jones sees as positive developments in the economy.
Jones said immigration was a major reason Trump won the 2024 presidential election.
He pointed to a figure of 78% of Americans wanting something done about immigration.
That number needs context. A February 2024 Pew Research Center survey found that 78% of Americans considered the large number of migrants seeking to enter the country at the U.S.-Mexico border either a “crisis” or a “major problem.” That is not the same as saying 78% supported Trump's immigration policies. Pew found 52% said increasing deportations of people in the country illegally would improve the situation at the border, while 56% said creating more opportunities for legal immigration would help.
Jones said the country should expand legal immigration while tightening enforcement against people who enter or remain in the country illegally.
“The whole system's broke,” he said. “Put six Republican leaders and six Democratic leaders in a room,” he said, “and don't let them leave until they reach a compromise on immigration.”
Jones puts himself in the social media fight
That idea of political division is one of the themes that runs through his book. Jones argues that America has become increasingly divided, and he puts much of the blame on social media.
“Everything's on the phone,” he said, “and I believe it's too much information.”
Jones said not everything people see online is true, while acknowledging his own role in the same online environment he criticizes.
Jones said he uses memes and goes after people he believes are spreading false information.
“My responsibility is to be truthful,” he said. “Politics isn't for sissies. If you're gonna be in politics, you're swimming with alligators and crocodiles.”
Jones said he considers himself a role model and leader, but doesn't believe leadership means avoiding confrontation.
“I don't get that by being weak,” he said. “I don't apologize much for what I say or what I do.”
‘The America I once knew’
That tension, between Jones' belief in speaking bluntly and his concern about a country becoming increasingly divided, is at the center of his broader argument.
Throughout “They Call Me Jonesy,” Jones repeatedly returns to a phrase: “The America I once knew.”
He describes that America through his childhood.
It was a place where extended families lived close together, relatives helped raise children, and neighbors knew one another. It was also an America where factories provided jobs and community institutions for generations of families.
Jones remembers his father driving without air conditioning, his arm hanging out the window, while Jones and his brothers were sent to the store to buy cigarettes for their parents.
He remembers candy cigarettes, too, but the cigarettes themselves aren't really the point.
The deeper theme in Jones' recollection is what he sees as the loss of shared institutions and family structures that once connected people.
Today, he sees Americans increasingly isolated behind their phones and increasingly angry at one another.
“Everybody's mad,” Jones said.
He doesn't limit that division to Democrats and Republicans. He sees divisions between generations, men and women, parents and children and different parts of American society.
So how does Jones think America gets back?
His answer begins locally. Jones said Americans need to pay more attention to school boards, city councils, townships and other local governments. He said the people running those institutions should reflect the values of the communities they serve.
“We've gotta get back to where we like each other again,” Jones said.
For Jones, “saving America” isn't simply about the White House or immigration policy.
It's about what happens in local communities.
He believes the country cannot recover from its divisions until Americans begin rebuilding the relationships and institutions he remembers from his childhood.
