Anticipating an ICE surge, county leaders ramp up immigrant protections

Prince George’s and Montgomery counties, home to more than half of the state’s foreign-born population, are bracing for a possible surge in federal immigration enforcement.

Immigrants and their advocates are alarmed by reports that U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement is looking to lease more real estate and potentially send more agents to Maryland.

In recent weeks, local officials have proposed a slew of measures to stymie ICE’s plans.

In Prince George’s County, the agency has for years leased space in Hyattsville for its legal team. Now it looks like ICE wants to grow its footprint in the Metro 1 building, at 6505 Belcrest Road, a few hundred yards from the Hyattsville Immigration Court.

The building is also near several churches, where, under the Trump administration, ICE is no longer restricted.

The federal government’s online contracting system shows that the General Services Administration sought lease proposals for office space “in support of law enforcement operations” in Hyattsville as early as October.

And the Prince George’s County’s permitting website shows that PERMIT ME, INC. received a use-and-occupancy permit in February for suite 310 in Metro 1. The proposal has stalled, with multiple failed inspections, most recently on Tuesday.

Stalled or not, the permit worries many in Prince George’s, who wonder whether ICE plans a detention center at Metro 1.

“We are concerned,” Krystal Oriadha, who chairs the County Council, said Tuesday in Largo after a press conference on a package of ICE-related bills. “They’re saying it’s for legal-office use, but it’s a large facility.”

ICE spokesperson Casey Latimer declined to answer questions about plans for Metro 1. The agency “will not confirm office locations as our officers are facing a coordinated campaign of violence against them,” she said in a statement.

Metro 1 is registered to a mailing address for The Bernstein Companies, a real estate firm in Washington, D.C. The commercial real estate company KLNB also lists the property on its website.

Neither company responded to requests for comment.

Responding to ICE

U.S. Rep. Glenn Ivey and Sens. Chris Van Hollen and Angela Alsobrooks sent a letter to ICE and the Department of Homeland Security last month asking about plans for Metro 1, but as of Monday they had not received a response.

Ivey also led a march with local officials and immigrant advocates in Hyattsville last month to protest the agency’s expansion plans.

The state and other counties in recent weeks have taken steps to counter ICE, which is acting on President Donald Trump’s campaign promise to deport millions of immigrants.

Attorney General Anthony Brown is suing the Department of Homeland Security over its plans to convert a Washington County warehouse into a detention facility.

Howard County revoked a building permit for a detention center, and both Howard and Baltimore counties have adopted bans on the facilities.

But ICE has still expanded its footprint, including in Baltimore County, where the agency recently opened an office for its attorneys.

Last month, shortly after officials from Howard and Baltimore County adopted detention center bans, Prince George’s County Executive Aisha Braveboy signed an executive order instituting a moratorium on the facilities.

County Council members plan to codify the order, though Oriadha said it will be at least a month before the council considers a bill.

Local legislation

On Tuesday, Oriadha and a majority of the council introduced a package of six bills to protect immigrants from ICE.

Council members are seeking to:

• Prohibit former ICE or U.S. Customs and Border Protection employees from working for the county government
• Limit ICE’s use of county property for immigration enforcement
• Direct county police to respond to immigration enforcement activity and record federal agents’ names and badge numbers
• Ban law enforcement officers and agents from wearing certain face coverings in public
• Adopt a resolution urging the county planning department, board of education, library system and community college to prohibit immigrant enforcement
• Partner with We Are CASA to develop a database of county residents who have been detained by ICE

Montgomery County Council members have proposed similar measures and a ban on permits for detention facilities.

Council members have also proposed bills that would:

• Ban law enforcement officers and agents from wearing certain face coverings in public
• Prohibit agents from using county-owned parking lots, garages and other land for immigration enforcement
• Require ICE to obtain a warrant to access nonpublic parts of county facilities
• Make it easier for family members to recover the vehicles of relatives who were driving when ICE detained them

Montgomery County Executive Marc Elrich has already enacted laws requiring warrants for ICE activity on county property and prohibiting local law enforcement from voluntarily cooperating with the agency.