Federal immigration officials have confirmed that they ended a contract with a Maryland county to house immigration detainees because local officials quit participating in a screening program.
The Capital reports that a spokesman for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement said in an email that the decision to end the contract with Anne Arundel County was tied directly to the county's decision to no longer participate in the 287(g) program.
The program trains correction officers to screen inmates for immigration violations. County Executive Steuart Pittman withdrew from the program in December, saying it didn't make people safer.
ICE spokesman Vincent Picard said the agency partners with counties that cooperate with its public safety mission. He said ICE believes the county's decision to terminate the 287(g) program "undermines this mission."
ICE gave the county more than $4 million in the first 13 months the program was in place, the Capital reported. It wasn't immediately how much would be left over from that amount once the cost of caring for the detainees and paying correctional officers was cut.
