Thread: MD-Bills would force DOC to send immigration status to feds

Maryland General Assembly 2010
Bills would force DOC to send immigration status to feds
By ERIN JULIUS
March 10, 2010
erinj@herald-mail.com

ANNAPOLIS — Two bills sponsored by local lawmakers would require the Division of Correction to forward to federal agencies specified information about an inmate’s immigration status.

House Bill 1012, sponsored by Del. Charles A. Jenkins, R-Frederick/Washington, would require the DOC and the Division of Parole and Probation to notify the United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement Agency (ICE) if an inmate has an immigration status.

House Bill 1061, of which Washington County Republican delegates Christopher B. Shank and Andrew A. Serafini are among the sponsors, would require the same notification, but only by the DOC. The Division of Parole and Probation is not addressed in the bill.

Frederick County participates in a federal program known as 287(g), under which law enforcement notifies ICE when it identifies someone in the country illegally. Since the inception of that program in April 2008, more than 500 people in Frederick County have been deported, Jenkins said.

None of the bills would affect local jails.

The Department of Public Safety and Correctional Services (DPSCS) has not taken a position on the bills, spokesman Mark Vernarelli said Wednesday, but Department Secretary Gary D. Maynard previously has discussed developing a policy on the issue. DPSCS already shares information with ICE.

DPSCS last year signed a memorandum of understanding with ICE that may allow for the deportation of certain nonviolent criminals after they have completed a portion of their sentence, as long as the inmate doesn’t fight extradition to his or her homeland and that they do not return, Vernarelli said.

Any violations of the terms of release result in the completion of the original prison sentence and the possibility of new federal charges, he said.

In 2008, the DOC released about 150 foreign-born inmates, a majority of whom were taken into custody by ICE, Vernarelli said. He stressed that ICE, not DPSCS, determines whether someone is eligible for deportation.

Jenkins said Wednesday that illegal immigration first presented itself to him as an issue when he first took office. It has a “devastating impactâ€

another bill in Annapolis this week is to try and pass a law to require people to be legal citizens in order to vote in our elections. you can't even begin to imagine the outrage coming from pro-illegal alien groups. they are PISSED off that a bill has been introduced that would require voters to be in this country legally in order to vote. isn't that crazy???? how DARE we have only legal taxpaying citizens voting in our elections!!!