HoCo To Hold Only ICE Detainees Convicted Of A Violent Crime

HOWARD COUNTY, MD — Effective Thursday, the Howard County Department of Corrections will be applying an updated policy to only hold ICE detainees at the Howard County Detention Center who have been convicted of a crime of violence as defined in Maryland criminal law code annotated section 14-101. Under the previous policy, the department of corrections could house ICE detainees who have been charged with or convicted of jailable offenses, officials noted.

However, during the coronavirus pandemic, to keep the jail population low, the detainees in the detention center under the contract with ICE generally have been convicted of or charged with serious crimes. The Howard County Department of Corrections is adopting this policy that was implemented during the pandemic.

“I believe these revised criteria address some concerns raised by members of the community, while still addressing public safety issues caused by violent offenders,” said Jack Kavanagh, department of correction director, in a statement.

The list of violent crimes included in the statute has been defined by the Maryland General Assembly and examples of such crimes include murder, manslaughter, rape, robbery and more serious assaults and sexual offenses. This revision significantly differs from Council Bill 51, which was introduced on Sept. 8. If enacted, CB-51 would effectively prohibit the county from housing any person who is in federal custody in the detention center under the contract with ICE.

“We claim victory for everyone who banded together to fight for immigrant families in Howard County. Now, this county, which has long been recognized as a place where diversity is embraced and celebrated, can truly live up to its reputation,” said Gustavo Torres, executive director of CASA. “These policy changes mean that people won’t be detained just for being immigrants. Howard County is in line with other counties that welcome immigrants.”

Officials emphasized that Howard County does not currently participate and has never participated in the 287(g) program like in Cecil, Frederick, and Harford counties during more than 25 years of the contract. The Howard County Detention Center does not and never has housed women or children. Additionally, Howard County Police are not involved in any way with transporting ICE detainees in custody or to the detention center. ICE agents make the arrests, process all intakes at their Baltimore field office, then use a private contractor to transport detainees to the Howard County Detention Center.