Montgomery County Will Not Hold Immigrants Without Probable Cause

Montgomery County Executive Isiah Leggett said Tuesday the county will not comply with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement civil detainer requests, unless there is adequate probable cause under the Fourth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution.

Leggett’s statement comes on the heels of an identical directive from Gov. Martin J. O’Malley to the Public Safety and Correctional Services Secretary Gregg Hershberger for a state-run jail in Baltimore, and advice from the Attorney General’s Office that without probable cause, continued detention likely violates the constitution.

Immigration detainers are notices to local law enforcement agencies that ICE intends to assume custody of an individual being held locally. Detainers not only notify local law enforcement that ICE means to take a person into custody once they are no longer subject to local detention, detainers also request the local agency hold individuals for up to 48 hours after their scheduled release to provide ICE time to take custody, according to www.ice.gov.

According to a news release from the American Civil Liberties Union of Maryland, federal courts have found that detention on the sole basis of an immigration detainer request violates the Fourth Amendment. Three federal courts have found that such detention raises constitutional concerns and that counties are liable in damages to the individuals they detain on that basis, according to the release.

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