Bill aims to block ICE detention centers from coming to Montgomery County

MONTGOMERY COUNTY, Md. - The entire Montgomery County Council is backing a new bill aimed at preventing Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) from opening a private detention center in the county.

The tools the county would use are likely familiar to anyone in the county who has ever built or renovated a home. The bill would prohibit Montgomery County’s Department of Permitting Services from issuing a building or occupancy permit for a privately-owned immigration detention facility.

Montgomery County Councilmember Evan Glass says the protests after the federal government’s quiet purchase of a privately-owned warehouse in the Williamsport area of Washington County, Maryland, with the intent to make it an ICE detention facility, made him realize Montgomery County had to act fast.

“ICE is acting quickly, and they are catching communities off guard,” Glass told News4. “And we will not be caught off guard, so we are being proactive.”

The ICE Out Act aims to use local law to try and stop what happened in Washington County from occurring in Montgomery County.

“We have the Constitution, there are parameters of what we can and cannot stop with regards to federal law enforcement, but Montgomery County and counties across the country do have code enforcement, do have permitting enforcement, and we are going to use that local jurisdiction as much as we can so that they cannot build these facilities,” Glass said.

Glass’ legislation comes as elected leaders in neighboring Prince George’s County unveiled six new bills that are part of a sweeping plan to stop what council members called harmful and threatening actions by federal immigration authorities.

You can read and watch the entire NBC 4 article here.