WESTMINSTER, Md. — Now that Maryland has outlawed 287(g) agreements effective immediately, multiple counties with agreements already in place are now figuring out their next steps. Nine jurisdictions were working with ICE under the program before Governor Wes Moore signed the legislation outlawing them on Tuesday morning.
One is the Carroll County Sheriff’s Office, led by Republican Jim DeWees, who calls the move short-sighted.
“I think it’s a shame that the governor is signing legislation like that and I’ve had many conversations with [him]. He knows better. He knows that this is not about public safety, it’s about politics,” DeWees said.
Sheriffs plan to continue cooperation with ICE, as allowed under new law
“Annapolis is very popular for creating legislation and ramming it down everyone’s throats and realizing that they screwed up the legislation and coming back to try and fix it because they don’t think it through," he added.
Last March, Carroll County joined the 287(g) program under the “Warrant Services Officer” model, made available as the Trump Administration expanded its deportation efforts. Six other Maryland jurisdictions also joined within the last year: Allegany, Garrett, St. Mary's, Washington and Wicomico Counties.
It allows local jurisdictions to serve an active deportation detainer or warrant on behalf of ICE if the person is booked in jail. The model is less labor and resource intensive than the Jail Enforcement Model which Cecil, Frederick and Harford Counties are a part of, which screens all detainees for immigration status, regardless of a detainer or warrant.
No counties in the state participate in ICE's Task Force Model, which deputizes local officers to exercise limited immigration authority.
DeWees explains that every detainee is always run through NCIC, the National Crime Information Center, for active detainers or warrants. Since last year, they’ve turned 17 people over to ICE, who were charged with various crimes: including child sex offenses, theft and assault.
“In my world, we don’t let people like that go when we know another law enforcement agency wants them, we turn them over. That’s the right way to do business. That’s public safety,” Dewees said.
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He plans to establish similar a policy in 287(g)’s absence, which is allowed under the new law. The county has always had an informal agreement to work with federal immigration partners.
“The sheriff before me did, the sheriff before him did and the sheriff after me will. You don’t have a choice, you have work with ICE in order to safely and efficiently transfer people over that ICE wants,” he said. "If you don't, then ICE is going to show up in your community and you're going to see exactly what you see in Minnesota, Chicago, L.A., New York."
For the counties with the Jail Enforcement Model, there are more logistics to figure out, such as how to return federal equipment.
Harford County Sheriff’s Office spokesperson Cristie Hopkins tells WMAR-2 News they are working with ICE about next steps and plan to still cooperate with the agency, as legally allowed under the new law.
Meanwhile, Sheriff Chuck Jenkins in Frederick County, who’s department has one of the longest standing 287(g) programs in the country, has suggested challenging it in court.
“I’m willing to fight that fight because I know this program has kept my county safe,” he told reporters earlier this month.
Critics say any further steps to limit law enforcement communication with ICE at the state level, would only lead to federal blowback.
