U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement arrested two criminal aliens in Prince George’s County, Maryland, after the county released them despite active federal detainer requests, ICE announced Aug. 6.
One of the individuals was identified as a suspected member of Tren de Aragua, a transnational criminal organization originating in Venezuela that has expanded operations into the United States, ICE said. The agency did not provide details about the criminal charges underlying the detainers.
The arrests are part of an ongoing pattern of ICE enforcement actions targeting jurisdictions that decline to honor immigration detainer requests. ICE has publicly identified Prince George’s County as a jurisdiction that does not cooperate with federal immigration enforcement.
Immigration detainers are requests from ICE asking local jails to hold individuals suspected of being in the country illegally for up to 48 hours beyond their scheduled release so federal agents can take custody. Jurisdictions that do not comply force ICE to conduct riskier at-large arrests in communities.
The incident exemplifies the federal-local enforcement tension that has become a central flashpoint in immigration policy. The administration has made high-profile enforcement actions against non-cooperating jurisdictions a visible component of its immigration strategy.
Prince George’s County, in suburban Maryland adjacent to Washington, D.C., is among the most populous majority-minority counties in the nation. Local officials in similar jurisdictions have argued that honoring ICE detainers undermines trust between immigrant communities and local law enforcement.
ICE has said that releasing individuals with criminal histories despite active detainers creates public safety risks in the communities where those individuals are released.