Montgomery County leaders once again reaffirmed their commitment to an inclusive immigration policy Wednesday and County Executive Ike Leggett said the county would be willing to take the fight to the courts to protect its policy of not asking individuals about their immigration statuses.
“I’m not going to be intimidated because there’s a threat about federal funds that has no relationship to what we’re doing here in Montgomery County,” Leggett told a packed room at the Silver Spring Civic Center at an event sponsored by the county.
He was referring to the possibility that President Donald Trump could try to prevent federal funds from being allocated to jurisdictions that do not enforce the federal immigration executive order he has signed. “We’ll fight this legally, we’ll fight with other communities as well.”
The county leaders held the event to reassure local immigrants and residents it would not change its policy due to Trump’s recent order. The county also held a rally shortly after Trump’s election where it promoted the “Montgomery County Way” and emphasized support for diversity and inclusiveness.
County Council President Roger Berliner reiterated the county’s longstanding policy that county police would not ask individuals about their immigration status and would not help federal agencies locate undocumented immigrants.
Montgomery County Exec Ike Leggett and Council President Roger Berliner on local immigration stance pic.twitter.com/n05TRRNUOh
— AJ Metcalf (@AJwatchMD) February 8, 2017
“We need our community to have faith in our police department,” Berliner said. “We can not allow people to be so fearful that they do not take the benefits they’re entitled to take. We can not allow people to be so fearful that they keep their children away from school because they are fearful their children will be taken.”
Berliner said Montgomery County Public Schools Superintendent Jack Smith met with the council and executive branch recently and “gave voice to the fear” of students that he sees in the school system, although he did not have statistics about how many students may be missing school because of this fear.
He said some individuals weren’t taking county benefits out of fear that “by raising their hand, they will become a target.” Berliner noted the evidence about children missing school and individuals shirking benefits is “anecdotal” at this point.
Also, Council Pres Berliner talking about anecdotal evidence that children are not showing up to school out of fear of immigration status pic.twitter.com/47yNG4C5dG
— AJ Metcalf (@AJwatchMD) February 8, 2017
On the federal funds issue, Berliner repeated what county officials have previously noted by explaining the county does cooperate with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to inform the federal agency about individuals convicted of crimes who are released from the county’s jail system. He said by doing so, the county is complying with federal law and not risking the loss of federal funds.
During a discussion after the county leaders spoke, Robert Green, the county’s corrections department director, said the department transmits fingerprints of arrested individuals to a database accessed by ICE and the FBI. If ICE is interested in taking custody of a person, it sends the county a detainer with a narrative about probable cause, according to Green. He said the agency has been most interested in undocumented immigrants who are convicted of criminal offenses such as murder, robbery and assault or those pertaining to serious gang activity.
More recently, he said ICE switched to a policy in which the agency now also asks about people who are charged with crimes. However, he said the county is not providing information about people who have been arrested, but not convicted.
.JPG)
The crowd at the event at the Silver Spring Civic Center on Wednesday. Credit: Andrew Metcalf
Luther Reynolds, an assistant police chief, said Trump’s executive orders have not changed how local officers do their jobs.
“The message that is important for me to provide,” Reynolds said, “is that we exist to serve and protect and work in partnership with every member of our community, regardless of what their status is or regardless of where they came from and there’s not any laws or executive orders that are going to change that.”
Leggett was also asked whether the county would pursue a law similar to one passed by the Howard County Council earlier this week that formalizes that county’s policy on how police and other county services handle individuals’ immigration status. Howard County Executive Allan Kittleman said he will veto the legislation.
Leggett said the county has been working under its existing policy since 2008 and that he doesn’t see the need to pass a law to codify the policy.
“If it’s needed that we need to do something in addition to this and people are fearful in the long term, we may go back and address it,” Leggett said.
