BUTLER COUNTY, Ohio — In the heart of Trump country, a quiet rebellion is taking shape — led not by college activists or left-leaning urban organizers, but by white-haired, fleece-wearing suburban grandmas.

For 17 straight weeks, a growing coalition of seniors in this conservative southwest Ohio county has filled commissioners’ meetings to protest the sheriff’s lucrative agreement with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). Their message is simple: Not in our name.

The group, now calling itself Butler County for Immigrant Justice, has swelled to nearly 70 members — most of them women between 60 and 85. They’ve become a weekly fixture at the 9:30 a.m. Tuesday meetings, the only demographic free enough to show up en masse at that hour.

And they’re making noise.

“I need to be able to look my grandkids in the eye”

“I’m here because I’m outraged. I’m here because I’m angry,” Hamilton resident Cassie Stevens told commissioners on Nov. 18. “I need to be able to look my grandkids in the eye and say I did not remain silent.”

Speakers described neighbors too afraid to leave home, schoolchildren terrified their parents would disappear, and Latino families avoiding parks, churches, and even grocery stores.

Some cried.

Others held signs in the rain afterward — America the Beautiful breaking out spontaneously despite warnings from commissioners not to sing.

A conservative county, but a growing conscience

Butler County is staunchly Republican. Trump won it with 62% of the vote in 2024, and Sheriff Richard Jones is one of the most outspoken pro-ICE sheriffs in America.

The sheriff’s March 2025 agreement with ICE — approved by commissioners — allows the county jail to house detainees facing deportation, bringing millions of federal dollars into county coffers. It makes Butler County the only jail in Ohio participating in ICE’s Jail Enforcement Model program.

Stevens calls it a “dirty money contract.”

“They use the dehumanizing term ‘illegals’ just like they use the n-word,” she said. “It has emboldened racists.”

Sharon Meyer from Hamilton said the contract sends a chilling message:

“If you don’t look like us, bring a passport to Butler County.”

Backlash to Vance, cats, and political embarrassment

Some protesters referenced Vice President JD Vance’s false 2024 claim that immigrants were “eating pets” in nearby Springfield — a story widely debunked but hugely damaging to the region’s reputation.

“We look like idiots,” said resident Melanie Stearns. “Just like we did with the cats and JD Vance.”

“I would defend them with my life”

One man, Jay Stevison, joined the group after the meeting. He said his three grandchildren have a Latino parent.

“I would have to defend them with my life if ICE tried to take them,” he said, fighting tears.

Commissioners: We can’t — or won’t — intervene

All three commissioners — Republicans Cindy Carpenter, Don Dixon, and T.C. Rogers — listened for an hour as 20 residents spoke against the ICE contract. Not a single person spoke in favor of it.

But the commissioners did not budge.

Carpenter argued the sheriff makes operational decisions and the board doesn’t interfere. However, the county prosecutor contradicted her, saying commissioners absolutely authorize such agreements and can cancel them.

ICE’s contract itself confirms either party may terminate it.

Rogers defended the agreement by citing CNN reports about a “border surge” — even though illegal crossings fell significantly under both late-term Biden and Trump’s second term.

Grandmas vs. ICE: A new political front

The weekly protests reveal something deeper: in a region known for hard-line immigration politics, elderly suburban women — the backbone of the county’s GOP voting base — are breaking ranks.

And they’re doing it not as progressives or partisans, but as grandmothers.

“I can do it; therefore I need to,” said organizer Anne Jantzen, 82. “If we don’t speak up, who will?”