Groups battle detaining of illegals

The 18 detained men did not have valid identification.
HAMILTON, Ohio (AP) -- Immigrants' rights groups have banded together in the face of the sheriff's controversial decision to detain 18 illegal immigrants, calling the move grandstanding and an attempt to intimidate employers and illegal immigrants.
The detainees were later released, but the groups and the American Civil Liberties Union say the sheriff overstepped his bounds, infringing on duties reserved for federal immigration officials.
"It's a national problem that requires a national solution, not vigilante activity. And that's really all the Butler County sheriff is doing," said Scott Greenwood, an attorney for the ACLU.
Rick Jones, sheriff of the county north of Cincinnati, has come under fire since deputies responded to a call about a potential fight between Mexican and American construction workers at a building site last week.
When they arrived at the scene, deputies detained and questioned 18 men suspected of being illegal aliens. Jones said none had valid identification papers and that some were carrying obvious forgeries.
Who's in charge?
All 18 were released later that night, but immigration-rights activists question whether Jones had the right to detain the men at all.
The Cincinnati U.S. Customs and Immigration Enforcement office has federal jurisdiction over immigration issues in Butler County. Local authorities generally only take suspected illegal aliens into custody if they are being charged with violating state law.
The sheriff maintains that immigration officials are stretched too thin to control his county's swelling immigrant population. He also said his office can investigate because he thinks state tax law might have been broken.
At a news conference Sunday, immigration-rights groups contended Jones' deputies harass Latino workers and threatened to pull over Latino-looking people to check for valid driver's licenses.