In the days since President Donald Trump has taken office, he has signed a series of executive orders, including cracking down on immigration. While the Department of Justice has said officials who get in the way could face criminal charges, Anne Arundel County Executive Steuart Pittman said he won’t be intimidated.

“All illegal entry will immediately be halted, and we will begin the process of returning millions and millions of criminal aliens back to the places from which they came,” Trump said during his inauguration speech.

The DOJ said interim policy changes will be implemented to try to tackle crime, cartels and drugs. In a recent memo from Deputy Attorney General Emil Bove, prosecutors were directed to investigate state or local officials who they believe are interfering with the Trump administration’s immigration policies, and said they could face criminal charges.

“Federal law prohibits state and local actors from resisting, obstructing, and otherwise failing to comply with lawful immigration-related commands and requests,” the memo says.

In response, Pittman released a newsletter saying in part, “I can only assume that this DOJ memo is designed to instill fear in local officials who disagree with the incoming President’s rhetoric on immigration. I can’t speak for my peers across the state and country, but in my case it is not working.” The end of the letter reads, “I trust that economic, political, and moral forces will carry us through this era of political bullying, and that dedicated public servants, whether they work for ICE, local police, or Department of Justice, will stay strong, stay brave, and remember that we swear our oaths to the constitutions and the laws of our country, our state, and our county. So let’s tone things down, treat one another with respect, and abide by the law.”

During an interview, Pittman said, “I wanted it to be known that we are not going to allow fear of what the federal government might do interfere with delivering for our residents in public service.”

While Anne Arundel County has taken steps to be a welcome place for immigrants, Pittman said they are complaint with the laws now and allow Immigration and Customs Enforcement enforce immigration policies.

“Our detention center has worked with them for years and years on the Criminal Alien Program where folks who’ve been incarcerated and when they’re coming out, ICE knows if they’re undocumented, and we hold them for two days for them to be able to pick them up there. So it’s a good relationship, and we want to keep it that way,” Pittman said.

Although Pittman said he disagrees with Trump’s immigration policies, he does plan to comply with federal laws.

“We … have complied with the laws that are on the books,” Pittman said. “If there are changes in those laws, then, yeah, we plan to comply with the federal law always.”

Pittman said despite the executive orders that have been signed, so far, nothing in Anne Arundel County has changed. “I think it’s very important in in this democracy and this civil society for it to be OK for people to disagree with one another, and it’s not a secret that there are mayors and county executives and governors and many who disagree with the rhetoric that the president has has used in his in his rallies and some of the things that are being said,” Pittman said.

“It’s OK to disagree. You know, we disagreed with the last president on things. That’s OK. But when, when a directive comes out from the Department of Justice written the way that one was written, I think it’s also important to say that I’m not intimidated. I don’t think many elected officials are. And the reason I’m not intimidated is because I have an office of law that tells me that we are in compliance, and so there’s nothing to worry about.”

Although Pittman said he was concerned about mass deportation, he agrees with taking violent criminals off the street. “They say that their focus is to get violent criminals that are undocumented off the streets, and I’m for that,” Pittman said. “I think most people are. But we also know that there are a lot of families that are hard-working, that have jobs, that overstayed a visa or ended up in this country.”

“So my hope is that these folks who are working here and are good parts of our community can get on a path to citizenship,” he added.

But despite his position, Pittman reiterated that he will comply with federal laws put in place, though he might fight to keep them from being passed or implemented.

“I swore an oath when I took this job, and actually, all of our police officers swear an oath to abide by the Constitution and the laws of the country, the state and the county, and so I will not, I will not fail to uphold that, that oath.”

Have a news tip? Contact Jessica Babb at jessicababb@sbgtv.com.