Maryland localities mixed on new federal immigration program

Maryland's largest jails are wrestling with a new Obama administration program to deport undocumented immigrants with criminal records, embracing some provisions but rejecting a central component that has drawn ire from immigration advocates.

Corrections officials in Baltimore, Anne Arundel County and elsewhere have agreed to notify federal agents before releasing certain immigrants, but have opposed requests to hold them in jail beyond their scheduled release so Immigration and Customs Enforcement can pick them up.

Local officials are hoping to strike a balance over what to do when undocumented immigrants wind up in jail, particularly in cases involving minor infractions. The July 1 killing of Kathryn Steinle in San Francisco — allegedly by an immigrant who was in the U.S. illegally and was released from jail — has brought new scrutiny to the effort.

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