GLEN BURNIE, Md. (WMAL/AP) – Federal immigration officials have confirmed that they ended a contract with a Maryland county to house immigration detainees because local officials quit participating in a screening program.
A spokesman for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement said in an email to WMAL:
“Based on the decision by Anne Arundel County to end its 287(g) agreement, ICE has reviewed its relationship and has decided to terminate its use of county detention space. ICE looks to partner with counties that are willing to cooperate in support of our public safety mission and believes the country’s decision to terminate the agreement undermines this mission. Therefore ICE has decided it’s no longer appropriate to continue providing the county with funding for the detention of aliens in ICE custody.
In accordance with the Intergovernmental Service Agreement between ICE and Anne Arundel, the agency has provided county executives with a 90-day notice of our intent to terminate the agreement.”
The program trains correction officers to screen inmates for immigration violations. County Executive Steuart Pittman withdrew from the program in December, saying that the program created a perception that county police were tied to immigration enforcement, hampering crime reporting efforts against MS-13.
Anne Arundel County Councilmember Nathan Volke, who proposed a resolution to reverse Pittman’s decision, gave the following statement in an email to WMAL:
“I join with many in Anne Arundel County who are disappointed by this news. It is unfortunate that the County Executive’s decision to terminate the 287(g) program will now impact the ICE detainees currently housed at the Ordnance Road Detention Center. Many in the Administration noted that the care received by the ICE detainees in this location was some of the best in the mid-Atlantic region and that it is a model facility. But given the County Executive’s decision to not cooperate with ICE through the 287(g) program, they have decided they no longer want to partner with Anne Arundel County and will be moving the detainees elsewhere. This is a loss for both the county and the ICE detainees, both economically and from a humanitarian perspective.”
ICE spokesman Vincent Picard said the agency partners with counties that cooperate with its public safety mission. He said ICE believes the county’s decision to terminate the 287(g) program “undermines this mission.”
Copyright 2019 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. (Photo: Immigration Customs Enforcement)
