Now a few weeks settled into his new job as Anne Arundel County executive, Steuart Pittman made one of his first major moves today by announcing the cancellation of Anne Arundel County’s 287(g) program with the federal government.
Pittman, who unseated Republican Steve Schuh during the November election, made the call after examining data from the county’s partnership with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. He cited a newly released report that he ordered, which found that since December 2017, county detention officers had questioned 69 already-detained, foreign-born people who were here on expired visas or without documentation. None had actually been turned over to ICE, since they already had to serve time in prison and could not yet be deported, the report said.
“The data speaks loud and clear—287(g) does not help make Anne Arundel County safer,” Pittman said in a statement. “Our county detention staff should be focusing on local law enforcement responsibilities rather than furthering controversial federal immigration policy.”
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