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Every person getting booked in jail in Frederick County is asked two questions: 鈥淲here were you born?鈥� and 鈥淲hat country are you a citizen of?鈥�
If the answer to either question is anything other than the U.S., said Sheriff Chuck Jenkins (R), officers will take the individual to the facility鈥檚 鈥淚CE unit鈥� where they determine the person鈥檚 legal status. If residing in the country illegally, officers will then place a detainer on them to initiate removal proceedings 鈥� if determined appropriate by Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
鈥淩ather than release a criminal back onto the street, we turn those criminals over to ICE,鈥� Jenkins said.
Frederick is one of several Maryland counties where the sheriff鈥檚 office has opted to participate in the 鈥�287(g)鈥� program, which allows ICE to delegate certain immigration enforcement abilities to state and local law enforcement officials. The powers include executing administrative immigration warrants in their jails, identifying and beginning removal proceedings against individuals arrested by local law enforcement, and serving on task forces that allow officers to 鈥渆nforce limited immigration authority.鈥�
While 287(g) agreements were first established in 1996, they have gained increased public awareness and scrutiny after President Donald Trump returned to office in January and directed a significant increase in immigration enforcement across the country. So far during his presidency, immigration arrests in Maryland have doubled.
Since the beginning of this year, five more Maryland sheriff鈥檚 offices 鈥� in Allegany, Carroll, Garrett, St. Mary鈥檚 and Washington counties 鈥� have signed 287(g) agreements with ICE. Cecil, Frederick and Harford counties already had agreements in place.
While the kinds of agreement can differ, all the participating sheriff鈥檚 offices in Maryland only utilize the 287(g) program in their county jails.
Opponents of the 287(g) program say that it leads to racial profiling of Latino residents, and will only increase distrust in law enforcement.
CASA policy manager Ninfa Amador-Hernandez said it was a 鈥済reat disappointment鈥� that the Maryland General Assembly did not approve a provision of the Maryland Values Act in the last legislative session which would have ended current 287(g) agreements in the state and prohibited the formation of new ones.
鈥溾�嬧�婽he impact of these programs is not just fear and mistrust in local government,鈥� Amador-Hernandez said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 also the deep trauma and separation these programs cause.鈥�
Amador-Hernandez added that local law enforcement in Maryland shouldn鈥檛 be spending taxpayer money on the extra time and effort the program requires of officers to partner with ICE.
鈥淭here鈥檚 absolutely no reason a locality should be using their taxpayer dollars to enhance this agency鈥檚 [ICE] already-over-funded programs,鈥� she said.
Sheriffs who participate in the program, including those from every county in Western Maryland, have defended 287(g) agreements as an effective tool.
Harford County Sheriff Jeffrey Gahler (R) said the idea that the program is racially discriminatory or increases distrust in law enforcement among immigrant communities is 鈥渁ll scare tactics.鈥� He鈥檇 like to see all 24 counties in Maryland sign a 287(g) agreement, he said
鈥淥ur job is not to do ICE鈥檚 job,鈥� he said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 not to do the FBI鈥檚 job. It鈥檚 not to do the DEA鈥檚 job. But we should be good partners on the things that relate to keeping our community safe, and this program works to keep our community safe through a partnership.鈥�
Carroll County Sheriff Jim Dewees (R) said that critics of the program are 鈥渋ncredibly naive鈥� to how it works.
鈥淭his is a jail-based model. We are not running around looking for people that ICE wants,鈥� he said.
Dewees, president of the Maryland Sheriffs Association, said the program isn鈥檛 discriminatory, as each person鈥檚 immigration status is checked, regardless of who they are. But University of Maryland Carey School of Law Professor Maureen Sweeney said it matters who is brought to jail in the first place.
鈥淲ho are they choosing to bring in, as opposed to giving them a ticket or not even stopping them?鈥� asked Sweeney, the faculty director of the law school鈥檚 Chac贸n Center for Immigrant Justice.
Sweeney pointed to past Justice Department investigations that found some U.S. sheriff鈥檚 offices with 287(g) agreements were racially profiling Latino residents.
In 2011, one DOJ investigation determined that the Maricopa County Sheriff鈥檚 Office in Arizona was engaging in a pattern of 鈥渦nconstitutional policing,鈥� then-Assistant U.S. Attorney General Thomas E. Perez wrote in a letter at the time.
The investigation found that the office was racially profiling Latinos, unlawfully stopping, detaining and arresting them, and unlawfully retaliating against individuals who complained about the office, Perez wrote in the 2011 letter. Latino drivers were four to nine times more likely to be pulled over for a traffic stop than 鈥渟imilarly situated non-Latino drivers,鈥� wrote Perez.
As a result, the Department of Homeland Security terminated its 287(g) agreement with the county. The program was later reformed by President Barack Obama, removing its 鈥淭ask Force Model.鈥�
Sweeney said the program incentivizes police to engage in these kinds of unconstitutional stop-and-search tactics.
鈥淚t鈥檚 an arrest that would likely be thrown out in criminal court, but because of the more lax standards in the immigration system, they often get the credit for enforcement, even though it was an unconstitutional stop,鈥� Sweeney said. 鈥淚t is illegal to stop somebody on the basis of their race, regardless of whether you鈥檙e enforcing the criminal law or the immigration law, but the mechanisms to enforce that are so much weaker in the immigration system.鈥�
The Frederick County Sheriff鈥檚 Office, which Jenkins said has the longest-standing 287(g) agreement in the country, has served more than 1,800 immigration detainers since it first joined in 2008.
Others are still getting off the ground. Washington County Sheriff Brian Albert said that his office鈥檚 287(g) agreement has only been operational since July 1. So far, they鈥檝e processed one person, he said.
Most of Maryland鈥檚 sheriffs have not signed a 287(g) agreement, however.
Montgomery County Sheriff Maxwell Uy (D), said that he didn鈥檛 join the program because county residents don鈥檛 want his office entering into an agreement to enforce immigration, and due to the fact that he doesn鈥檛 oversee the county鈥檚 jails.
鈥淵ou wouldn鈥檛 want a federal officer, federal agent, to write traffic tickets. Montgomery County residents don鈥檛 want their deputies out enforcing immigration law,鈥� he said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 the community that should dictate how they want their law enforcement to engage with the public.鈥�
Others, like Talbot County Sheriff Joe Gamble (R), said they haven鈥檛 joined simply because they don鈥檛 oversee a jail, and wouldn鈥檛 have the ability to sign on to a jail enforcement-based agreement.
At its root, Sweeney said the problem lies in uniting immigration enforcement with criminal enforcement. By combining the two, she said, immigrant communities aren鈥檛 going to trust the police, or go to them when they need to.
Immigration enforcement is going to have a drastic impact on the way people live, she said.
鈥淲e live in a global world, right? And that鈥檚 not going away,鈥� Sweeney said. 鈥淲e will come back to some kind of balance. But how long will it take, and how much damage will be done to individuals and companies, the economy, the culture? That remains to be seen.鈥�
