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ICE program coming to Mont. County this year

Another county in the D.C. region is getting ready to up the ante on illegal immigration.

Federal News Network Staff

April 20, 2011 5:25 pm

< a min read

WASHINGTON – Another county in the D.C. region is getting ready to up the ante on illegal immigration.

The Gazette reports that Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Secure Communities program is expected to be in place in Montgomery County in September. The program automatically checks the fingerprints of every person booked into local jails with federal immigration records.

Many county officials and minority leaders continue to object to the plan. But ICE has required the county to adopt it, the Gazette says, and County Executive Isiah Leggett’s office says Montgomery will acquiesce.

Montgomery County and Baltimore city are the only jurisdictions in Maryland not currently participating in the ICE program. The Gazette says since the program began in Maryland in 2008, Secure Communities has resulted in 293 illegal immigrants being deported as of March 31.

All Virginia counties have the program in place.

WTOP’s Evan Haning contributed to this report. Follow Evan and WTOP on Twitter.