Aug 10, 2009 9:49 am US/Eastern

ICE Enforcement Worth $2.6 Million in frederick


FREDERICK, Md. (AP) ― A newspaper reports that Frederick County has reaped about $2.6 million in the past two years from a contract allowing the county jail to hold federal immigration detainees.

The Frederick News-Post reported Sunday that the money came from an Inter-Governmental Service Agreement between the Frederick County Sheriff's Office and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

The immigrant advocacy group CASA de Maryland says such contracts give local law enforcement agencies an incentive to arrest suspected illegal immigrants, and encourage ethnic profiling.

Sheriff Chuck Jenkins denies those allegations. He says the federal government is simply reimbursing the sheriff's office for filling jailhouse beds that would otherwise be empty.

http://wjz.com/wireapnewsmd/Frederick.C ... 21506.html