WICOMICO COUNTY, Md. -- A recently announced partnership between Wicomico County and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement is in jeopardy as Maryland lawmakers move to ban such agreements statewide.
Just two weeks ago, county leaders announced they had entered into a 287(g) agreement with ICE. The agreement allows local jurisdictions to partner with federal immigration officials. In Wicomico County, officials said ICE would assist at the county jail and would not extend beyond that scope.
However, that agreement may be short-lived.
This week, Maryland lawmakers gave final approval to two identical bills, Senate Bill 245 and House Bill 444, that would ban 287(g) agreements across the state. If the legislation passes and is signed by Governor Wes Moore (D) as emergency legislation, it could take effect immediately.
If that happens, Wicomico County’s agreement, which ICE approved just days ago, would be null and void.
"If the bill does go into effect and the governor does sign it as emergency legislation, we obviously will follow the law," said Wicomico County Executive Julie Giordano.
For Monica Brooks, president of the Wicomico County NAACP, the legislation is welcome news, though she said she never supported the county entering into the agreement in the first place.
"ICE in its current form is absolutely out of control. There's no accountability," said Brooks.
Brooks said she's also frustrated that county leaders moved forward with the agreement despite the legislation advancing in Annapolis.
"Doing a press conference in light of the fact that everyone knew that the votes would be in to support the statewide ban was absolute frivolousness, in our opinion," said Brooks.
Giordano said she stands by the county’s decision, pointing to the possibility of amendments that could have protected existing agreements.
"I heard about that amendment. I heard the amendment might be that just no new agreements would be able[to happen], or no renewals of agreements. And so, with that being the case, that is why we made the decision to go ahead and enter into it," said Giordano.
Those amendments were not included in the final version of either bill.
Now, Wicomico County officials are waiting to see what happens next in Maryland’s capital. If the governor signs the legislation as emergency legislation, the ban would take effect immediately.
