MD sheriff says ICE agreement will continue until May

Washington County Sheriff Brian Albert said the county detention center will continue to operate under its 287(g) agreement with the Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency until the 90-day termination clause takes effect in May.

Gov. Wes Moore, on Feb. 17, signed emergency legislation passed by the Maryland General Assembly to prohibit state and local jurisdictions from deputizing officers for federal immigration enforcement as part of the 287(g) program.

The new law states that any agency, including a county sheriff, with an existing immigration enforcement agreement “shall exercise the termination provision” immediately upon the law going into effect.

Albert said his office’s agreement with ICE has a 90-day termination clause.

Ninety calendar days from the governor signing the law into effect on Feb. 17 is Monday, May 18.

What does the Washington County sheriff’s 287(g) agreement allow?

The 287(g) agreement Albert has said he signed last summer is the Warrant Service Officer model and only has to do with people detained at the county detention center who have ICE detainers. The sheriff’s office oversees the detention center off Western Maryland Parkway, west of Hagerstown.

When someone is brought into the jail, the sheriff’s office checks the National Criminal Information Center (NCIC) to see if the person has outstanding warrants.

When an ICE detainer is discovered on a jail inmate, the sheriff’s office emails ICE to let them know that person is in the jail, Albert has said.

The detainer agreement with ICE provides ICE 48 hours to pick up an inmate with a detainer once jail officials notify ICE’s Baltimore office that the person is being released from the jail, Albert said. If ICE officials don’t show up to pick up that person within 48 hours, then the individual is released.

From July 1, 2025, to Feb. 24, ICE has picked up nine people from the detention center and refused to pick up four others, Albert said on Feb. 24.

Beyond those 13, Albert said that as of Feb. 24 there were two inmates who are undocumented immigrants, have ICE detainers, and were awaiting sentencing hearings. They had serious local charges and probably would go the Maryland Division of Corrections, he said.

Governor’s office sends mixes signals, sheriff says

Albert was among the people to receive a Feb. 17 letter from Moore’s office about the new law, a letter addressed to local leaders that Albert said left him with “kind of a mixed message” from the governor’s office.

The new law abolishes the 287(g) agreements in Maryland, but the governor’s letter tells law enforcement to cooperate with ICE as they can, Albert said.

The letter signed by Moore, in part, reads:

“In recent weeks, we have seen in real time how federal immigration enforcement is failing to make our communities safer and follow the rule of law. We have also witnessed a deep lack of accountability from the federal government — their actions do not align with the Constitutional policing that we practice and honor in the State of Maryland.

“I am equally troubled by the federal government’s lack of focus on violent offenders in its apparent pursuit of arbitrary immigration quotas — in Maryland, the majority of individuals arrested by ICE have never been convicted or even charged with a crime. Of those with convictions, most have been for minor offenses.

“Public safety is, has been, and will continue to be my top priority. Therefore, I want to be clear:

• SB 245/HB444 does not prevent the State or localities from continuing to work with the federal government on our shared public safety priorities, including the removal of non-citizen offenders who pose a risk to public safety;
• Nothing about the law changes your ability to work with the federal government on criminal investigations and joint task forces unrelated to civil immigration enforcement, nor does the law authorize or require the release of dangerous criminals;
• The law does not prevent localities from continuing to notify ICE about the impending release of an individual of interest from local custody or coordinating the safe transfer of custody within constitutional limits; and

“Anyone who is charged with a crime under State law must go through the State criminal process and, if convicted, must serve their sentence.”

Moore, in the letter, also directs Public Safety and Correctional Services Secretary Carolyn Scruggs to continue the department’s “lawful coordination with ICE on the removal of public safety threats and I encourage each of you to do the same with your personnel.”

In a separate Feb. 17 letter to Scruggs — provided by the governor’s office, Moore says that in 2024 and 2025 the public safety department “provided ICE with advance notification of release and coordinated transfer for 564 individuals, including for numerous individuals convicted of violent or serious crimes. I expect department personnel to continue to provide ICE with advance notification of release and to continue to effectuate the lawful transfer of custody in response to ICE detainer requests, per standing departmental policy.

“The department should prioritize the fair and complete adjudication of criminal charges, and should seek ongoing coordination from ICE to ensure that local criminal charges can be adjudicated as federal civil immigration cases proceed.”

How will Washington County Sheriff’s Office handle ICE detainers after mid-May?

Albert said once the termination clause ends in mid-May, the sheriff’s office will no longer have the 48-hour window to notify ICE they can pick up an inmate with an ICE detainer.

The sheriff’s office will still contact ICE, but it would be on the day of the inmate’s release, Albert said. For example, the sheriff’s office would coordinate with ICE by telling the agency that an inmate with an ICE detainer is being released that day at 9 a.m. if ICE can pick them up, he said.

“They’ve been very responsive,” Albert said. “I would foresee they would be able to respond and make a safe transfer.”

This article originally appeared on The Herald-Mail: Maryland sheriff says ICE agreement will continue until May

Reporting by Julie E. Greene, The Herald-Mail / USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect.