Harford County Sheriff Opposes Bill Ending ICE Partnership

ANNAPOLIS, MD — Law enforcement leaders from three counties in Maryland are opposing two bills under consideration by the Maryland General Assembly that would restrict their ability to conduct immigration enforcement.

Harford County Sheriff Jeffrey Gahler joined Frederick County Sheriff Chuck Jenkins and Cecil County Sheriff Scott Adams for a press conference in Annapolis at 11:30 a.m. Tuesday to talk about their opposition to the House Bill 388 and House Bill 67 and the success of the federal program they participate in with ICE. They are also against making Maryland a sanctuary state.

The Harford County Sheriff's Office launched a special program with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) in 2016 in which some employees were trained as immigration officers to screen people coming through the Harford County Detention Center to determine whether they were illegally living in the U.S. and met the federal priority criteria for removal.

In the first year of the program, officials said they identified 44 undocumented immigrants in Harford County who met that criteria, including four members of MS-13.

"This program allows local detention center officers, working under ICE supervision, to identify and process for removal those individuals who are in the country illegally and booked for another crime," Gahler said. "Once an individual is identified, ICE determines the course of action related to any immigration action. Those individuals identified as having the highest priority are those individuals who present a threat to public safety."

Harford, Cecil and Frederick counties participate in the 287(g) program, which allows the local or state police to enter into a memorandum of understanding with the Department of Homeland Security deputizing law enforcement officers to perform limited immigration enforcement functions. According to ICE, there were 79 law enforcement agencies in 21 states participating in similar programs.

Related: 44 Undocumented Immigrants IDed Through Harford-ICE Partnership

Under House Bill 67, called the "Dignity Not Detention Act," government entities would be prohibited from facilitating immigration-related detention and would be required to terminate existing contracts that involve immigration-related detainees. A hearing on the bill is slated for 1 p.m. on Feb. 25.

House Bill 388 would prohibit law enforcement agents from, among other things, transferring an individual to federal immigration authorities, notifying federal immigration authorities about a person's location or using law enforcement resources to further civil immigration enforcement. A hearing on the bill is slated for 1 p.m. Tuesday.

"During my first term as sheriff, I was pleased to announce that crime had fallen each year and at the end of last year to another all-time low for our county. I credit our crime reduction success to our complete public safety approach to crime fighting and our priorities which are inclusive of the 287(g) program," Gahler said. "Returning these offenders back into our community to further victimize our citizens is certainly not an effective strategy to reduce crime and keep law-abiding citizens safe. Becoming a sanctuary state is not the way to focus on public safety."