A battle is brewing between federal and local authorities in Baltimore County over policies on dealing with undocumented immigrants charged with violent crimes..
Baltimore County Executive Johnny Olszewski is defending the county’s practice of disregarding detainer requests from Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to continue holding undocumented immigrants after they complete their sentences. However, Matthew Elliston, the director of ICE operations in Maryland, is pushing back hard against these policies.
The clash came to a head over the recent release of a convicted sex offender, despite ICE’s request to keep him detained. Olszewski claims ICE had ample opportunity during the 15 months the individual was jailed pre-trial to take him into custody. But Elliston argues that misses the point – ICE expected to be notified immediately upon conviction so they could detain him.
“At no point is ICE or any law enforcement going to go in the middle of court proceedings and take someone out of custody,” Elliston told FOX45. “The problem is, once they’ve got their conviction, that’s when Baltimore County didn’t let us know.”
The data shows Baltimore County rejects around 70% of ICE detainers. In the last year, Elliston says 57 undocumented immigrants facing criminal charges were released in Baltimore County rather than transferred to ICE custody as requested.
“If you’re not honoring our detainers, you’re letting these people go right back to revictimizing those that we’re trying to save them from,” Elliston said, according to FOX45.
While localities can legally disregard the detainer requests, which are not binding, Elliston argues they should at minimum provide notice to ICE ahead of releasing serious criminal offenders. He cited a recent compromise with Montgomery County to provide 4 hours notice before release, FOX45 stated.
“Call us four hours before the guy is going to get released and we will come pick them up. There is nothing prohibiting them from doing that,” he said.
Elliston expressed frustration that failure to cooperate with detainers means diverting significant law enforcement resources to track down released individuals, increasing risks to officers and the public. He provided examples of undocumented immigrants released in Baltimore County despite detainers who went on to commit additional crimes.
“It seems like the main concern here is, God forbid they dismiss a detainer and then that individual go out and commit further crimes. Can you think of a case where that has played out?” a FOX45 reporter asked.
“Oh, many, many times,” Elliston responded, “A felon’s recidivism rate is very high, and they are always higher the worse the crime is. And someone like this, who’s an egregious felon who’s victimizing the most vulnerable of our population, the idea that they released him and he’s not going to go out and reoffend and molest someone else is laughable. We just want to stop the creation of more victims.”
The public debate lays bare the tension between local policies limiting cooperation with federal immigration enforcement and the stance of ICE under prioritizing detention of undocumented immigrants convicted of serious crimes.