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Anne Arundel Co. leader says providing free lawyers to illegal immigrants increases court efficiency

County Executive Steuart Pittman spoke after ICE ended $4 million detention contract with no explanation.

ANNAPOLIS, Md. — At least 90 federal immigration detainees housed by Anne Arundel County in one of its local jails will be pulled out, ending a relationship that was earning the county millions of dollars a year.

The break-up between the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement Agency comes after Anne Arundel County's new county executive called for spending at least some of the federal money it was earning on legal aid for the immigrants detained in the county.

ICE did not explain its pull-out decision to county officials, according to County Executive Steuart Pittman.

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Pittman said he stands by his proposal to spend some of the $4 million the county earned from ICE to support non-profit organizations that would provide free legal advice to immigration detainees ICE held in the county.

"It makes the system more efficient," Pittman said. "When there are lawyers, fewer people apply for asylum but the ones who do tend to get it."

Pittman said providing lawyers would result in quicker case resolution and lower detention costs for the overcrowded immigration enforcement system.

ICE has not responded to media inquiries because the agency’s communications staff are on furlough.

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