ICE reports some ‘Sanctuary Cities’ are now cooperating with the agency – PJ Media

Some counties and cities that previously designated themselves as “holding centers” for illegal aliens have now partnered with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to notify the agency when they release illegal aliens from jail. They also provide ample notice before releasing illegal aliens convicted of violent crimes.

It is unknown what ICE does with the information. But Acting ICE Director PJ Lechleitner believes the recent surge in serious crimes committed by illegals has put pressure on some cities to change their policies after regretting the release of certain violent illegals.

“You’ve seen examples of this where some individuals, unfortunately, have been picked up by local law enforcement and because of policies that were put in place at the state or local level, they were not allowed to notify immigration authorities … and all of a sudden people are being released and they’re reoffending.”

“We don’t want that. We want to make sure that threats to public safety are mitigated appropriately,” he said.

Wait a minute. Wait a minute. Is he saying that people who have spent decades warning about releasing violent illegal aliens and not telling ICE about their whereabouts — and actively preventing ICE from finding out — aren’t right-wing racists after all?

“We don’t want someone to get out and then go on to commit more serious or heinous crimes. That’s always a concern,” said Earl Stoddard, the top public safety and law enforcement official in Montgomery County, Md. Stodard also heads the county’s Office of Emergency Management and Homeland Security.

It’s frustrating to hear some of these people now, when a few years ago they would have extolled the virtues of illegal immigrants and called them valuable “assets” in the fight against local crime. Whether they’re in a sanctuary city or not, an illegal alien is not going to talk to the police about anything. Period. End of story. And pretending otherwise is political swagger, not effective law enforcement.

Baltimore County, which borders Montgomery County almost directly, is also changing its stance on illegal immigrants.

“Baltimore County and (ICE) officials agreed to adjustments to current policies to support this shared work, including a commitment to providing ICE officials with 48 hours or more of notice prior to an individual’s release, when possible,” a county spokesperson said. “Baltimore County remains committed to prioritizing public safety while also respecting individuals’ constitutional rights.”

One thing that ICE is reluctant to do is go into neighborhoods where illegals are living and arrest them. The stated reason is fear for public safety, but the real reason is the high profile nature of these arrests and the effect it has on other illegals in the neighborhood.

“Mass arrests put citizens at risk because we have to make arrests in neighborhoods. We shouldn’t be doing that,” Lechleitner said. “Let’s do it in a controlled environment so everyone is safe. My people are safe, the local community is safe, and the non-citizens are safe as well.”

The only threat comes from the violent illegal alien. Maybe the police shouldn’t go into any neighborhood to arrest a violent criminal for fear of the innocent. The police are trained to avoid civilian casualties, just like ICE officers. It’s a cop-out not to arrest someone who could be the next murderer of a local nursing student.

This is just the beginning for sanctuary cities. Full cooperation with ICE is the only answer to preventing the kind of high-profile killings by illegal aliens that drove the immigration conversation during the election.