Cumberland County Commissioners voted this week to stop holding ICE detainees in the county jail.
While that decision officially ends the county’s contract with the U.S. Marshals Service, it could come at a cost to taxpayers.
“The outcome of the vote is disappointing in a number of ways,” Cumberland County Sheriff Kevin Joyce said.
Joyce said that the sheriff’s office held several ICE inmates during the Department of Homeland Security’s “Operation Catch of the Day” that played out in Maine earlier this year.
The federal government was then paying the county $150 a day per inmate.
“Our county, for 30-some-odd years, has built funding the jail around federal revenue,” Joyce said.
Cumberland County Commission Chair Patrcia Smith says that ICE’s impact on the community far outweighs the costs that taxpayers may face.
“It certainly sends a signal to our community members that you know, we want to live in safe communities,” Smith said. “Certainly, we’re going to have to work a little bit harder to figure out how to make ends meet.”
Smith and other commissioners said the decision won’t put a huge burden on taxpayers.
“Very little involvement with ICE over the years until, you know, this latest, and it really seems like it’s a more political crusade than anything else,” Cumberland County Commissioner Jim Cloutier said.
Local grassroots organization Presente! Maine, which supports displaced communities, called the commissioner’s decision a “victory.”
“We believe that people should be able to remain with their families and communities as they navigate a deeply broken immigration system.”
ICE pulled all of their detainees from the jail in January, right after Joyce criticized the way ICE detained one of his correctional officers, saying that the immigration enforcement agency’s actions were “bush-league policing.”
The sheriff said that the vote will not keep ICE out of Cumberland County.
“So they’re not going to go away,” Joyce said. “They’ll find a way around it.”
The county jail will still be required to accept federal detainees charged with a crime under state law.
