“Off air, off air,” a Washington County official can be heard saying from the County Commissioners’ board meeting stream after the panel voted to approve a resolution Tuesday morning to support Department of Homeland Security and ICE activities in the jurisdiction.
Protestors gathered outside the building, where their whistles could be heard throughout the meeting, and inside the chambers, with many holding signs.
The resolution is a sharp turn from the actions most local governments in Maryland are taking regarding immigration enforcement activities in their community.
The resolution allows local law enforcement to cooperate with ICE and other agencies and supports Washington County government’s cooperation with those entities.
Claire Connor is part of Washington County Indivisible, a group opposing ICE in the county and the development of an immigration detention center.
“The biggest concern is simply the fact that there was absolutely no communication, no transparency about what was happening, and that we've been evaded at every opportunity when seeking a response from the county commissioners as to what's happening,” Connor said. “The real world implications of what is going to happen when you round up thousands of individuals, you cram them into spaces unfit to inhabit life, and what it will mean economically for our region, I think once that is realized, there will be people singing a different tune.”
Many other jurisdictions like the city of Baltimore, Howard County and potentially the state of Maryland as a whole are shunning any cooperation with the federal government in its attempt to round up and imprison people who are immigrants.
The Baltimore City Council is considering a bill that requires city agencies to develop and implement a plan to limit ICE activities in Baltimore-owned spaces like schools, parks, libraries and office buildings
Howard County Executive Calvin Ball signed two emergency bills into law last week that ban privately-owned buildings from becoming detention centers and limit ICE access in the county.
The state General Assembly approved their own versions of legislation that would keep local law enforcement from partnering with ICE.
However, Gov. Wes Moore has yet to commit to signing it.
The General Assembly is also considering another bill that would restrict ICE agents from wearing masks.
All of this comes as the Department of Homeland Security recently bought a warehouse outside of Hagerstown that it may transform into an immigration detention facility.
The deed, signed Jan. 22, shows the property was purchased from FRND-Hopewell, LLC for $102.4 million and could hold as many as 1,500 people.
Washington County commissioners originally said they had reservations about.
“It is Washington County’s position that decisions about land use are best made locally. However, the legal reality when property is owned by the Federal Government is clear. Washington County is not able to legally restrict the federal government’s ability to proceed. DHS has not notified Washington County that a purchase has taken place,” the commissioners said in a statement.
None of the commissioners responded for comment about the recent vote.
Gov. Moore wrote a letter to DHS last week expressing concern about that facility and the conditions of the facility in Baltimore.
“ICE has been essentially holding people in cages, not giving people access to their medications, to medical care, not giving sufficient food and water or beds,” said Adinia Applebaum, the program director at the Amica Center for Immigrant Rights. “People have to sleep on the bare floor without mattresses.”
U.S. Representative April McClain Delaney, (D-Md.) who represents Washington County, introduced legislation to block ICE from establishing the detention center.
“For DHS to pursue such sweeping and dangerous plans in darkness is yet another example of the Trump Administration acting without transparency, accountability, or regard for human life. I recently saw for myself ICE’s horrendous treatment of detainees at its Baltimore field office, and I refuse to remain silent as they thrust a facility–similar to a private prison–upon Washington County,” McClain Delaney said. “I will fight alongside Maryland lawmakers and community members to show up, speak out, and stand resolute in defense of all of our neighbors.”
According to DHS records obtained by CBS less than 14% of people arrested by ICE have violent records. DHS repeatedly claimed that ICE crackdowns are primarily to target “dangerous and violent individuals.”
About 40% have no criminal record. Another 30% are nonviolent crimes. About 6% were related to “dangerous drugs.” Another 8% were driving under the influence infractions.
Of the 14% who were charged with violent crimes, 11% had to do with assault and 1.4% with sexual assault. People charged with homicides and kidnapping made up less than 1%. Less than 2% had gang affiliations.
