Maryland Dems Admit They Cannot Stop Local Sheriffs from Working with ICE
Nine Maryland county sheriffs pledged Wednesday to continue working with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), despite a ban signed Tuesday by Gov. Wes Moore (D-MD) that ended formal agreements between local police and the federal agency, as state Democrats admit the new rules can’t stop cooperation.
“This is the greatest betrayal of law enforcement and public safety that I have ever seen,” said Wicomico County Sheriff Mike Lewis. “It’s really a sad day for Maryland. It’s a sad day for Maryland.”
The Maryland Sheriffs’ Group held a joint news conference Wednesday to denounce the state’s ban on participation in the federal government’s 287(g) program, which pairs local law enforcement with federal agencies to work directly in immigration enforcement and other law enforcement operations.
Sheriff Lewis criticized Gov. Moore and state Democrats for the folly of banning the 287(g) program as a “betrayal of law enforcement,” and emphasized that the ban does not stop ICE from doing its job, anyway.
“Abolishing the 287(g) program is not abolishing ICE. They’re not going to get anywhere. In fact, they’re going to intensify their efforts,” Lewis said, according to WBAL-TV. “Mark my words, you will see a dramatic increase in ICE’s presence in this state.”
Each of the sheriffs also said the so-called ban didn’t actually prevent them from working with ICE, it only prevented them from being easily enrolled in the 287(g) program, and they pledged to simply create their own individual policies to continue working with ICE despite what Democrats want.
Carroll County Sheriff Jim DeWees said he has now created his own internal policy that will allow him to continue working with ICE and that his policy does not overlap with the ban, WBFF-TV reported.
Added Harford County Sheriff Jeff Gahler: “So we’re still moving forward in partnership. Even if it’s not formal, even if MOUs are prohibited.”
“We’re going to provide ICE with the information about the people we arrest, so they can classify the detainees,” Gahler said.
WBFF added that several Democratic lawmakers have already admitted that they cannot stop sheriffs from working with ICE and that their new ban does not stop cooperation outside of 287(g)s.
“We can’t say you can’t work with ICE, there’s federal override. So we can say and we can make it state law, that there can’t be any formative agreements,” one lawmaker told the station.
Former Gov. Larry Hogan (R-MD) predicted that most law enforcement agencies in the Old Line State would ignore Moore’s ban.
“Yesterday, in my state, they just passed a bill, Governor Moore signed an emergency bill to prohibit local law enforcement from cooperating with ICE. And, you know, all the local law enforcement officers are saying, ‘We’re going to ignore this because we’re obligated to work with them,'” Hogan said Wednesday, according to the Hill.
“So I understand the whole, you know, going too far and overstepping and doing the wrong things, but, you know, when they have violent criminals that they’re holding in jail and ICE wants to be detained, they, you know, they shouldn’t be left on the streets. So there’s two sides to that argument,” he added.
Maryland hasn’t been the only state to try to prevent local police from working with ICE to take violent offenders off the streets. New Mexico also recently enacted a new law prohibiting the implementation of the 287(g) program within the state.
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