WICOMICO COUNTY, Md. - Wicomico County Executive Julie Giordano is calling on Maryland Gov. Wes Moore to veto pending legislation that would ban local agreements with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and dissolve those already in place.
On Jan. 23, Giordano announced Wicomico County would enter into a 287(g) agreement with ICE, allowing federal agents to serve and execute immigration warrants inside the county jail.
Meanwhile, in Annapolis, Senate Bill 245 and House Bill 444 are awaiting third reading in the General Assembly and would prohibit such agreements and require existing agreements to be terminated.
During a Harford County Sheriff's Office press conference on Monday, Feb. 9, Giordano criticized the effort to ban the agreements, calling it "shortsighted" and a "disservice to the people of Maryland."
According to Giordano, since she took office in December 2022, more than 300 undocumented individuals have been processed in Wicomico County's correctional facility, many of whom she assures are repeat offenders. Giordano said charges include first-degree and second-degree murders, first-degree and second-degree assaults, and sexual abuse of a minor. She went on to say that only one of those individuals remains in custody.
"The rest have been released back into my community," Giordano said. "That is not compassionate policy, that is a failure in public safety. Entering into the 287(g) agreement changes that reality. It gives us lawful, controlled, and responsible way to work with federal authorities to ensure those individuals that pose serious threats are properly identified and vetted while they are already in our custody, rather than being released back into our neighborhoods."
Giordano said communities are safer with the agreement in place and suggested the county could pursue possible legal action if the bills are signed into law.