‘Sanctuary jurisdictions' increasingly cooperating with ICE, though many request anonymity
Local government leaders who previously refused to work with the federal agency are reportedly reversing this policy to reduce crimes perpetrated by illegal immigrants.
ICE agents apprehend a fugitive.
Patrick Lechleitner, director of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), argued in conversation with NBC News that some local governments that previously refused to cooperate with federal authorities in charge of immigration are reversing their policies.
Lechleitner explained that governors of so-called “sanctuary jurisdictions” are beginning to inform ICE before releasing illegal immigrants convicted of crimes;
According to him, many of these progressive politicians asked the agency to keep their collaboration secret.
Lechleitner detailed that the outreach is coming after some local authorities had to release illegal immigrants convicted of crimes, due to their sanctuary policies, only to see them reoffend:
"You’ve seen some examples of this, where some individuals, unfortunately, were encountered by local law enforcement and because of the policies put in place, either at the state or local level, they weren’t allowed to notify immigration authorities … and all of a sudden you have people being released and reoffending," he said.
Montgomery County in Maryland is one of those that approached ICE, but not one of those requesting anonymity. Although the Democrat-led county in Maryland is not officially a sanctuary, Earl Stoddard, deputy chief administrative officer, explained that citizen pressure led to the local administration having to back off their de facto policy of not cooperating with federal authorities.
In February, Stoddard participated in a meeting with ICE delegates after members of the agency complained to local authorities about their lack of collaboration. Montgomery now notifies ICE 48 hours before releasing immigrants from police custody.
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