Harford County, Maryland Sheriff's Office Cracking Down on Illegal Immigrants
The Harford County Sheriff's Office is cracking down on illegal immigrants in the county.
A new policy is underway, after an announcement made Wednesday afternoon.
It's a new partnership between the sheriff's office and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). The program allows sheriff's deputies to conduct a more comprehensive review of the immigration status of people arrested in the county and booked at the local detention center.
"We're going to locate those people that are here illegally and committed a crime against the citizens of this country," said Thomas Holman, ICE Associate Director.
The policy "is not there, as detractors have said all along, that we're going to be targeting people who are just in an he country illegally," said Sheriff Jeffrey Gahler.
The sheriff's office and ICE say it's all about public safety and officer safety.
But Elizabeth Alex, Regional Director of CASA, one of area's best known immigration advocacy groups, believes the new policy could actually be a threat to public safety.
"I'm saying crime may not be reported," said Alex. "What we've seen in any population where there's a vulnerable community, they may be unwilling to call police. That's because maybe they themselves are undocumented or somebody in their family is undocumented."
Harford County is the second Maryland county and 33rd location in the U.S. to have a system like this in place.
- foxbaltimore.com
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