Sheriff Craig Apple of Albany County heard there was an email being passed around the New York State Sheriff’s Association from the Department of Homeland Security a few weeks ago. The federal government was looking for a county jail in New York to hold hundreds of immigrant detainees. Apple volunteered.
Soon, hundreds of detainees began arriving at the Albany County Jail. They were flown in from around the country. Apple opted to take the immigrants as he thought they would be treated better in his custody.
“You see some of these horrifying photos of tent cities,” Apple said. “People with mylar blankets and penned in cages.”