The most controversial item on the agenda of the May 14 regular meeting of the Greenbelt City Council was item 13, added by Councilmember Colin Byrd: To “direct the city manager to have the police chief produce and publish a written policy on city interactions with federal immigration agencies, including ICE” (Immigration and Customs Enforcement). Byrd’s email requesting this addition explained that the policy would ban Greenbelt Police from providing information about individuals’ immigration status to federal immigration authorities or otherwise assisting in immigration enforcement unless the agency produces a judicial warrant.
Interim Police Chief Thomas Kemp explained the current practices of the police department. He said that in his 33-year career there have only been two purposes for which the department has interacted with immigration authorities: to have them assist the city regarding human trafficking and ICE detainers.
ICE Detainers
The ICE website defines a detainer as a notice to “federal, state and local law enforcement agencies to provide notice of its intent to assume custody of a removable alien detained in federal, state or local custody. A detainer requests that the law enforcement agency notify ICE as early as practicable … before a removable alien is released from criminal custody and briefly maintain custody of the alien for up to 48 hours to allow Department of Homeland Security to assume custody for removal purposes.”
The police learn of ICE detainers through the routine computer checks officers run on any individual. If the computer alerts the officer to a detainer, police contact ICE to see if they want to come pick up the individual in question. About half the time, ICE declines. Otherwise, city police will hold the individual until ICE arrives. However, they will not detain an individual for more than eight hours.
Read more about the council debate in the May 31 News Review