Executive order blocks ICE from Anne Arundel County properties, promises investigations

Anne Arundel County Executive Steuart Pittman signed an executive order Thursday that commits officials to investigating criminal misconduct by federal immigration officers and blocks federal agents from using some county property.

The order says federal officials will not have access to county property that is not accessible to the general public for the purposes of immigration enforcement, unless they present a valid judicial warrant. Such property includes parking garages, empty lots and county offices.

It also says that the Anne Arundel County Police Department will investigate “all instances” of violence, allegations of violence or property damage, including instances of alleged criminal behavior involving federal agents.

Those investigations will happen regardless of whether there’s a parallel investigation by federal law enforcement, and, “when appropriate,” will involve referrals to the county state’s attorney or Maryland attorney general, the order says.

“While we can’t interfere with federal agents conducting their job responsibilities, we can demand accountability,” wrote Pittman, who is also the chair of the Maryland Democratic Party, in a Facebook post announcing he signed the order.

Neither Pittman nor another county representative was available Friday to discuss the order.

The order says it does not preclude ICE from using county property that is otherwise accessible to the general public and where the county “lacks legal authority to restrict entry.” Should there be a “surge” of immigration enforcement activity in Anne Arundel County, officials are to use de-escalation tactics to “protect peaceful protestors and ensure public safety.”

However, the county’s law office said, through a spokesperson, that the use of parking lots associated with a county facility is limited to individuals or entities parked while using that facility.

“This would include a parking lot in a park which is limited to use by park patrons,” the law office wrote in an email.

It also says Anne Arundel County Police will respond to 911 calls about warrantless entry into a home or building and use “de-escalation tactics” to protect people. The text of the order notes that the section on responding to 911 calls should not be interpreted to permit or require obstruction of federal immigration enforcement, however.

Also on Friday, Gov. Wes Moore signed an executive order creating a statewide task force on immigrant rights protection. It will bring agencies together to “coordinate efforts to address the fraud and exploitation of immigrant Marylanders‚” the governor’s office said in an announcement about the order.

“I have made it clear that we will not stand by while bad actors prey on immigrants in our communities,” Moore said in a statement. “In forming this task force, we are demonstrating the unity and strength of our state when we join together against injustice.”

In the social media post announcing the executive order, Pittman thanked grassroots groups in Anne Arundel County that monitor immigration enforcement activity as well as groups that connect residents with emergency and legal services.

Not everyone in Anne Arundel County government is happy about the order. Councilman Nathan Volke, a Republican, said Pittman is “serving a political agenda at taxpayers’ expense.”

Pittman “is actively refusing to cooperate with ICE in enforcing federal immigration law. This isn’t a passive policy disagreement,” Volke said in an email. “He is erecting deliberate barriers to a federal agency carrying out its lawful mandate to protect American citizens.”

Around Christmas, ICE agents shot a man they were trying to arrest in Glen Burnie after he drove his van into their vehicle. In January, city and county officials said ICE agents arrested as many as 10 people during a sweep in the Annapolis area.

Since those incidents, the Anne Arundel County Police Department altered its uniforms to clearly indicate that its officers are not immigration enforcement.