'Seeing all the signs': MoCo officials anticipate increase in federal immigration enforcement activities

Montgomery County officials say they are bracing for an uptick in federal immigration enforcement activity statewide, but much is still unknown about when and where additional agents are expected to arrive.

During his weekly virtual media briefing Wednesday, County Executive Marc Elrich (D) referenced recent reports that U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) is moving dozens of vehicles to a Washington County warehouse the agency plans to convert into a detention center with the capacity to hold 1,500 people.

Elrich said he is “pretty sure” the vehicles in question will not remain in Washington County and will instead be deployed throughout the state. However, he added that the federal government does not keep the county government appraised of their plans for immigration enforcement.

“ICE doesn’t report what they do, and we’re not everywhere ICE is, or we don’t know every action that’s taken, so it’s hard for us to track numerically,” Elrich said.

Councilmember Kristin Mink (D-Dist. 5), who has been working with community organizers to monitor ICE activity in the county, expressed a similar sentiment during a Feb. 26 interview with Bethesda Today.

“There is activity on the ground that happens here that is not necessarily all under one office, which makes it difficult to count and to track,” Mink said, explaining that agents seen operating in the county are sometimes assigned to ICE’s Washington, D.C., office rather than its Maryland office in Baltimore.

Agents from U.S. Customs and Border Protection also have been involved with immigration enforcement activities in Montgomery County, Mink said, and agents are routinely rotated from one nearby jurisdiction to another.

“It makes it very difficult to figure out exactly what’s going on, but certainly without a doubt overall the activity is ramping up,” Mink said.

Earl Stoddard, county assistant chief administrative officer, said during Wednesday’s briefing that the administration is “in constant communication with the federal delegation as well as the governor’s office on what’s being seen around the state.”

“We do anticipate an increase in activity. We are seeing all the signs for that,” added Luisa Cardona, county assistant chief administrative officer, during Wednesday’s briefing.

Stoddard added the county does not know when additional agents might arrive.

“When we have factual information, we provide it,” Stoddard said. “We don’t often talk about the rumors, because we hear a lot of them.”

A spokesperson for ICE’s Baltimore and Washington, D.C., offices did not respond to Bethesda Today’s email request for comment Wednesday.

County government ‘hamstrung’ when it comes to stopping ICE, Elrich says

Elrich said during his Wednesday briefing that the county government is “hamstrung” when it comes to preventing ICE from increasing its footprint here.

“I would love to be able to say our police will block ICE from doing this — our police can’t do that,” Elrich said.

In a Feb. 26 statement to Bethesda Today, Montgomery County Police Chief Marc Yamada said officers “interact with federal and state law enforcement partners in a variety of situations every day.”

“Our personnel receive ongoing training to respond thoughtfully and effectively to situations that may arise in the county, including concerns about a potential increase in immigration enforcement activity,” Yamada said.

“In every circumstance, our focus is to remain content-neutral, preserve the peace, protect life and property, prevent and address crime, and uphold the law. We remain committed to serving our community and responding to any situation with professionalism and care.”

In separate statements on Feb. 23, Chevy Chase Police Chief John Nesky and Gaithersburg Police Chief Shawn Eastman told Bethesda Today they had not received any information indicating an increase in ICE activity for their jurisdictions.

“Our role is to ensure public safety and maintain order,” Eastman told Bethesda Today. “If we receive 911 calls related to ICE activity, our response will be focused on addressing any threats to life, property, or public peace — not on immigration enforcement.”

Nesky said his department “will respond to any calls for service that require our direct action for maintaining the public’s health, safety, and welfare.”

In a Feb. 26 statement to Bethesda Today, Deputy Chief of Rockville Police Barry Dufek said the Rockville City Police Department “remains focused on protecting the safety and well-being of all members of our community.”

“As with any situation involving outside agencies operating within the city, our role is to ensure public safety, maintain order, and respond appropriately to any calls for service,” the statement said. “If community members witness criminal activity, threats to public safety, or emergencies, they should call 911 as they normally would.”

The Takoma Park Police Department directed Bethesda Today to a January statement regarding federal immigration enforcement in which Chief Antonio DeVaul said the city is “not a lawless zone.”

“Every agency conducting enforcement activity here must comply with the United States Constitution, Maryland State Law, and the professional standards long required of American policing,” the statement said.

In a Monday interview with Bethesda Today, Sheriff Maxwell Uy (D) said he hopes federal agencies will coordinate with local law enforcement agencies in the event they ramp up immigration enforcement here.

“We never want to have what’s commonly referred to as some type of blue-on-blue situation, which basically means we never want to have law enforcement officers in a miscommunication where force is used,” Uy said. ~~He added that his agency does not take part in immigration enforcement. ~~

Officials encourage preparedness, citizen engagement

In the absence of reliable data on where and when ICE agents will be deployed, officials on Wednesday encouraged residents to remain vigilant and take steps to prepare if detention is a concern for their families.

“I think we’ve just got to provide people with as much information, give them as much of a heads up as we possibly can so they can avoid places where activities are taking place,” Elrich said during his briefing.

Cardona encouraged families at risk of detention or deportation to complete one of the family preparedness guides available in multiple languages through the county’s Gilchrist Immigrant Resource Center.

Cardona said the Gilchrist Center can also provide guidance for people interested in acting as observers of immigration enforcement actions.

Elrich said he believes pushback from the community can play a role in deterring immigration enforcement activities, referencing recent reports that ICE has mostly left Minneapolis following a period of civil unrest in the Minnesota city culminating in fatal shootings of two U.S. citizens by federal agents.

“The public’s resistance to what ICE was doing played not a small role in the decision to pull out of the city,” Elrich said. “Hopefully people here, when they see these things happening, will stand up for their neighbors and be visible witnesses to what ICE is doing.”

Meanwhile, the County Council is considering multiple pieces of legislation that seek to limit certain tactics commonly used by ICE in other jurisdictions. The bills include:

- The ICE Out Act, sponsored by Councilmember Evan Glass (D-At-large), to prohibit the county from issuing permits needed to build and operate privately owned and operated immigration detention facilities;

- The County Values Act, sponsored by Mink, to prevent use of county-owned property as staging points for immigration enforcement operations;

• The Unmask ICE Act, sponsored by Councilmember Will Jawando (D-At-large), to prevent law enforcement officers operating in the county from covering their faces with masks except under limited circumstances

In February, the council passed the Trust Act, which among other changes prevents the county from entering into formal agreements with ICE through the federal 287(g) program. Gov. Wes Moore (D) recently signed a law that banned participation in the program statewide.

Bethesda Today reporter Elia Griffin contributed to this report.