Under the arrangement, the federal government has paid the county $117 million since 2003 to hold detainees while they await hearings in immigration court in Chicago. That revenue, which the sheriff’s office reported at $10 million in fiscal year 2019, dropped to $7 million in FY 2020, and was less than $1 million in the first quarter this year, as ICE held fewer immigrants during the COVID-19 pandemic.
