HAMILTON, Ohio — A Butler County immigration advocacy group marked one year of protests Tuesday by packing the county commissioners' chambers before taking its message into the streets.
Butler County for Immigrant Justice, or BCIJ, said it now has more than 250 members. The group has attended commissioners' meetings for the past year, calling on county leaders to end the county's contract to house people in federal immigration custody.
The commissioners' chambers were so crowded Tuesday that Commissioner T.C. Rogers said the room was over capacity.
"We demand, in honor of our 250th anniversary of our declaration, that you end the contracts with ICE immediately," one BCIJ member told commissioners.
After the meeting, protesters marched from the county government building to the Butler County Jail.
WATCH: Butler County immigration group marks one year of protests over ICE contract
The group also brought apples, saying it had heard reports from detainees that fresh food and produce are not regularly part of their meals.
"Couldn't the detainees simply get an apple? One piece of fresh food occasionally?" one protester asked.
The apples were offered to the sheriff's office, but the office said the jail cannot accept outside food.
Rogers said BCIJ wants the county to end its ICE contract.
"If you stop it, then everybody who is in there from ICE gets to go home," Rogers said.
Ending the county's contract, however, would not automatically release people who remain in federal immigration custody. Those detainees could instead be transferred to another detention facility.
Rogers said the county is dealing with what he described as a major influx of detainees.
"You have to do something because you can't absorb that many people within a period of time," Rogers said.
He said county commissioners cannot change federal immigration law and argued the county must follow federal law.
"We cannot say we're not going to adhere to the law unless we want to be designated a sanctuary county," Rogers said.
BCIJ says it is not asking the county to release detainees or ignore federal law.
The group says it wants people in ICE custody to receive due process and a fair chance to have their cases heard. Members also say they believe federal ICE policies have contributed to racial profiling.
"We want to bring to light how our democracy is being ignored and dismantled," said Samantha Searls from Ignite Peace.
"If you become silent, you become complicit in the injustice. And so we cannot, knowing what's going on, we cannot stop," said BCIJ member Kathy McMahon-Klosterman.
The Butler County Sheriff's Office had not responded to a request for comment as of Tuesday.
