A Maryland County is close to finalizing a 287(g) agreement with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) that will allow corrections officers to use federal databases to screen new inmates for immigration violations, warrants and prior crimes. Anne Arundel County also wants to house illegal aliens for ICE at its correctional center.
A spokesman for County Executive Steve Schuh said "We've worked out a framework and (ICE is) going to come back and present an agreement to us," he said. "There might be some more debate surrounding some of the minor terms, but once we have an answer from the federal government... the likelihood is that we'll move quickly."
ICE would pay to train the officers assigned to the 287(g) program and cover the cost of the technology needed to access ICE’s database. The screening the officers perform can uncover information about arrestees not otherwise available to local law enforcement and result in the removal of dangerous criminals from the streets. It’s also important to ICE since the local officers work as a force multiplier.
The county hopes to offer ICE vacant beds at the Ordnance Road Correctional Center in Glen Burnie, Maryland. ICE would pay the county $118 per inmate and cover at least 40 inmates a day even if the beds are not filled. ICE also would pay to beef up security at the Center.
Read more in the Capital Gazette.
