Demonstrators To Protest MoCo's Immigration Enforcement Policies

ROCKVILLE, MD — A Rockville-based grassroots organization is set to take the streets Friday to protest an executive order that eliminates any collaboration between Montgomery County police and federal immigration authorities.

Help Save Maryland's rally was organized in response to the "The Promoting Community Trust Executive Order" and a string of rape cases involving undocumented immigrants.

In recent months, at least half a dozen undocumented immigrants have been arrested on suspicion of rape in Montgomery County, court records reveal. The county is facing national scrutiny over these rape cases, with conservatives arguing that the region's more lenient immigration policies are to blame for the alleged assaults.

Ken Cuccinelli, the acting director of the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, is one of the critics. He took to Twitter on Tuesday in an effort to show what he says could happen when a county supports sanctuary policies.

More sanctuary Montgomery county consequences... sad and tragic https://t.co/bJuQTlJufL
— USCIS Acting Director Ken Cuccinelli (@USCISCuccinelli) September 3, 2019

SEE ALSO:

• Collaboration Between MoCo Police, ICE Ends By Executive Order
• MoCo Leaders Slam Conservatives Who Link Immigrants To Sex Crimes
  

"Get Montgomery County, Maryland out of the national news!" Brad Botwin, director of Help Save Maryland, wrote in an email about the upcoming rally.

The rally will be held outside the Executive Office Building in Rockville at 11 a.m. From 9 a.m. to 2 p.m., Maryland Avenue (from Fleet Street to E. Jefferson Street) and Vinson Street will be closed.

The group hopes that county officials will terminate the executive order and allow local authorities to collaborate with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).

Under this executive order, Montgomery County police officers aren't allowed to ask residents about their immigration status and work with ICE — the agency behind multiple nationwide sweeps to deport undocumented immigrants.

Several organizations, including Help Save Maryland and the Montgomery County Federation of Republican Women, assert that the county is prioritizing the protection of undocumented immigrants over the safety of residents.

County leaders have refuted those claims.

RELATED:

• Conservative Group Urges MoCo To Rescind 'Sanctuary Policies'
• ICE Detainer In Child Rape Case Will Be Followed By County
• Elrich Doubles Down On Montgomery's Immigration Policies

Back in July, when the executive order was signed, County Council President Nancy Navarro said those who are coming to the United States shouldn't be ostracized and aren't here to cause harm.

"I want to make sure that people understand that it is a fallacy when folks try to somehow scapegoat immigrants as if we are here to somehow to destroy the fabric of this country — a country that was really formed on the basis of welcoming people who were facing persecution and welcoming those who wanted that American Dream," Navarro said.

County Executive Marc Elrich has repeatedly said that police will work with federal agencies when immigrants are charged with major crimes — and that the executive order isn't a departure from past policies, but a continuation "of the prior administration."

"The new Promoting Community Trust Executive Order has not changed the County's policy on cooperating with ICE requests for notification of the release of individuals charged with serious crimes," Elrich said. "The County's Department of Correction and Rehabilitation will notify ICE if the suspects become eligible for release, but until then they will remain in our custody until the local legal process is complete."

On Wednesday, Elrich announced he had met with representatives from the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement's Baltimore Field Office in Montgomery County. The Democrat did not go into specifics, but said the meeting was "generally introductory" and called the conservation "productive." He added that there will be more meetings with federal immigration officials in the future.