Anne Arundel County is housing immigrant parents separated from their children for months — one of whom was told by immigration officials: “You can either give us your daughter or we will take her way,” a Virginia congressman said Tuesday after a visit to the county corrections center.
In a Facebook video released by his office, U.S. Rep. Don Beyer, D-Virginia, said he talked to two men separated from their children at the border with Mexico as part of President Donald Trump’s “no tolerance policy.” They are being held at the Ordnance Road Correctional Center in Glen Burnie.
Trump signed an executive order Wednesday afternoon ending his policy of separating immigrant families at the United States-Mexico border. The president didn’t have to sign an executive order to end family separations. His order is likely to come under legal scrutiny after a settlement agreement in the Flores v. Sessions barred indefinitely detaining children. The order requires the U.S. attorney general to request modification of that settlement.
Beyer visited alongside U.S. Rep. Dutch Ruppersberger, D-Maryland, who represents the Glen Burnie area that contains the correctional facility.
Beyer didn’t use last names and said both men cried while talking about their family.
“We came away more committed than ever to try and lift up the American people, Democrat, Republican, Independent to stop this moral outrage,” Beyer said. “I’m going to do my humble best with as many colleagues as I can to reverse this in Congress as soon as we can. And certainly asking the administration … to recognize the only zero tolerance we should have is destroying families.”
Ruppersberger, who also sat in on the meeting with the two men, made a statement about the visit on Facebook where he called their stories “gut-wrenching.”
“This was a terrible situation that occurred to use children as leverage,” Ruppersberger said in a phone call. “The president realized he made a mistake. This is about who we are as Americans and looking at history such as Japanese internment camps and slavery. It had to stop.”
Separated from their children for months
Beyer said one of the men he spoke to, Carlos, fled Honduras with his 7-year-old son. After he was separated from his son, he didn’t speak with his child for almost three months, Beyer said. His son memorized his grandmother’s phone number, and used it to eventually contact his father, Beyer said.
Another man, Mario, fled Honduras after he was beaten up by a gang of five people, Beyer said. Mario had tried to press charges against a police officer who domestically abused his sister.
He came with his 5-year-old daughter.
“An ICE worker came up and said ‘You can either give us your daughter or we will take her away,'” Beyer said. “Through extended sobs (he) talked about how his daughter was dragged away from him crying, screaming, asking for him. He has not been able to talk to his daughter since April 23 until just this week.”
It isn’t clear if the two men were caught up in Trump’s zero-tolerance policy. Prison officials have not returned a request for comment regarding their detainment.
The Department of Homeland Security told reporters in a conference call about 2,000 children had been separated from their families between April through May 31, according to a CNN report.
County Executive Steve Schuh also visited the correctional facility on Tuesday. Schuh asked questions during a conference room meeting before the visit with the two detained men, according to a source present in the room.
The county executive did not go into the room with the two detained men.
“As it was not his event, he felt the need to respect Congressman Ruppersberger’s obvious desire he not attend,” said Owen McEvoy, Schuh’s spokesman.
Schuh did give comments to the press during his visit.
“Anne Arundel County does not hold children whose parents are being detained for immigration violations. So this is entirely an adult facility,” Anne Arundel County Executive Steve Schuh said to WBAL. “Whoever comes into our possession in Anne Arundel County is treated humanely, given proper health care, medical treatment, whatever they need because that’s the right thing to do.”
Ruppersberger said he respects Schuh and that he was glad he attended the meeting.
“That is not true at all,” Ruppersberger said. “I’m glad he was there. If the county executive thinks that way he should give me a call.”
Immigration detainees find their way to Anne Arundel County thanks to an intergovernmental service agreement between the county and the federal government.
The deal pays the county to hold up to 130 immigrant detainees at the Ordnance Road Correctional Center. The county is paid a minimum of about $1.7 million which is equivalent to 40 detainees. That is about $43,070 a year per detainee. The profit margin for the county is significant since officials said they don’t need to increase to handle the detainees.
The Ordnance Road Correctional Center currently holds 114 detainees, meaning the county is receiving about $13,000 a day to hold Juan Carlos, Mario and the other detainees.
The correctional center is run by Department of Safety and Corrections superintendent Terry Kokolis. In an email, Kokolis wrote that about 60 percent of the county’s detainees are given to ICE for further processing that can include deportation. The other 40 percent are released.
ICE officials have not returned a request for comment.
The county also participates in the 287(g) program, which trains public safety officers how to screen incoming inmates for immigration violations, warrant and prior crimes. The county also honors detainment requests made by ICE for inmates already within the county system.
Democratic county executive candidate Steuart Pittman said he would shut down the county’s 287(g) program and would explore other uses of the correctional center’s beds instead of detaining immigrants in ICE custody. Pittman wouldn’t commit to ending the intergovernmental agreement though.
He called on U.S. Congress to pass comprehensive immigration reform.
“It was a matter of time before the press discovered this anguish that is being experienced by the detainees at the Ordnance Correctional Center,” Pittman said. “We have undocumented workers in Anne Arundel County and we will continue to have them until Congress tackles immigration reform.”
Zero tolerance
The Trump policy means every person who crosses illegally into the United States is criminally prosecuted for illegal or attempted illegal entry, which are misdemeanor crimes. These crimes — or any other existing criminal record — means the person will be deported.
A DHS fact sheet says these people can still request asylum, although some news reports have detailed families separated despite requests for asylum. Asylum is granted to families to protect them from violence in their home countries. Asylum seekers have to make the request at a “port of entry,” which are typically border towns, harbors or airports. Crossing the border without using a port of entry leads to the illegal entry charges.
The Department of Homeland Security has denied turning away asylum seekers or prosecuting families who have used lawful ports of entry, according to a Myth vs. Fact: DHS Zero-tolerance Policy press release.
Trump’s “zero tolerance policy” was established in April and announced by U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions. The announcement means the federal government would charge anyone attempting illegal entry into the United States.
Trump’s policy — it isn’t a law — is different than previous administrations. Dating back to George W. Bush, the federal government would be more selective on who is held in detention while other non-violent or non-threatening people would be released while they awaited immigration hearings.
Trump administration officials, such as Chief of Staff John Kelly, have publicly said the family separation policy is a deterrent aimed at slowing down immigration at the southern border.
The policy has been heavily criticized by the public as well as Democrat and Republican politicians.
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