The Montgomery County Council voted unanimously Tuesday to pass legislation that prohibits the use of county-owned parking lots, garages and vacant lots for immigration enforcement.

The legislation, called the County Values Act, will also require a judicial warrant for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement to access nonpublic areas of county facilities.

In addition, the act requires the county executive’s office to create, distribute and train staff on protocols for interacting with ICE agents.

“These are very high-pressure situations, and we need to make sure that all of our staff feel fully prepared,” said council member Kristin Mink, the bill’s lead sponsor.

An additional feature of the legislation, proposed by council member Sidney Katz, establishes an online public reporting portal for unauthorized use of county property for immigration enforcement.

The portal also allows users to report “harmful conduct by individuals conducting immigration enforcement,” according to a council staff report. The council worked with local law enforcement to ensure that the legislation is enforceable, county officials said.

The measure will go into effect 91 days after its passage. The reporting portal will open prior to that date.

Other county measures to counter ICE

This bill is one of many the council has considered to rein in ICE in the county, including the Trust Act, which passed in February, and requires judicial warrants for ICE activity at county facilities and prohibits voluntary cooperation with the agency

The council is also considering additional measures, including prohibiting building permits for detention centers and legislation that would bar federal, state and local law enforcement from wearing masks on the job.

Council President Natali Fani-González, who came to the county as an undocumented teenager, told The Banner in a recent interview that though she supported the County Values Act, she worries that the public overestimates the county‘s power over federal immigration enforcement.

One area over which the county can exercise limited control is the type of operations that may occur on county government grounds, Fani-González said.

“This is a county that is going to do every single thing in our power to protect and defend and welcome our community regardless of where they were born,” Fani-González said.