The following pieces, written by the editorial editors, reflect the majority opinion of the editorial board.
"The jobs have all been taken over by illegals. You can't find dishwashers here, or people to bus tables, landscapers - it all used to be done with local people."
With the Republican presidential primaries in full swing and bigoted comments being thrown out willy-nilly in an attempt to prove to the electorate who's the baddest of them all, let's play a little game of 'who said that racist quote?' Was it:
A) Donald Trump
B) Ben Carson
C) Dick Cheney
D) Your grandfather
It seems as there could be no wrong answer, but if you said any of the shamelessly conservative pundits above, you'd be wrong. This quote belongs to our very own Butler County Sheriff Richard Jones.
In 2006 Jones posted an "illegal aliens here" sign pointing toward the Butler County jail, and last year he sent a $900,000 bill to Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto demanding compensation for the Latino immigrants held in it - the FBI called Jones soon after, warning him that his stunt got him placed on a cartel hit list.
Most recently, Jones announced that he's establishing an "immigration beat," specifically for hearing complaints concerning "illegals."
Jones' campaign against illegal immigration may seem like nothing more than a comedy of errors - we're used to this now, we've been watching Trump for months, right?
It would be nice to say he shouldn't be taken seriously, but in Hamilton, the reign of terror has the local Hispanic community frightened.
In an episode of NPR's All Things Considered, Jennifer Ludden reported that if a crime happened, Hispanics in Butler County would be too scared to call the police.
That was in 2006. With so much of the Republican debate revolving around immigration fears today, the conversation in Butler County needs to continue.
Richard Jones is an embarrassment for us, and his perpetuation of shoddy statistics and fear of the "other" should no longer be tolerated.