Baltimore Officials Say They Won't Cooperate With ICE

Baltimore's mayor and police commissioner elaborated Wednesday on Tuesday's announcement that the city would no longer cooperate in U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement investigations of civil immigration violations

"We are going to make sure that our immigrant community knows that anytime they are detained by ICE that there are legal avenues for them to take," Mayor Bernard C. "Jack" Young said.

Baltimore Mayor Jack Young and Police Commissioner Michael Harrison repeat it is policy of City not to cooperate with ICE. But..city does not control detention facility pic.twitter.com/n0X0JvzvDx — Jayne Miller (@jemillerwbal) July 3, 2019

Young and Police Commissioner Michael Harrison announced Tuesday a new police department policy prohibiting officers from helping federal immigration officials in civil investigations.

"Those policies hurt us in that it prohibits us from keeping people safe because it pushes people away from telling us about crimes that we need to know about," Harrison said.

Young, echoing statements made by predecessor Catherine Pugh, said he wants Baltimore to be a welcoming city for all people, and he worries about the impacts of President Donald Trump's immigration policies on the city's immigrant community.

"The policy that the president is pushing is a policy against children because once you remove a parent, and the kids are still here, they end up in foster care or end up in camps," Young said.

Harrison believes immigration issues should be addressed by federal officials.

"We enforce criminal law," Harrison said. "We do not enforce civil law. Civil and administrative policies by ICE, that's for them to enforce."

The state controls the city's jails. In 2017, Attorney General Brian Frosh advised state and local government officials not to enforce federal immigration laws or honor most federal detainers, warning they risk civil liability.

Since 2017, the city has worked to connect immigrants facing deportation with attorneys.