With President Donald Trump implementing a policy allowing U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents to detain people who are in the country illegally — even if they aren’t the targets of the investigation — ICE director for Maryland Matthew Elliston says targeted immigration enforcement actions are happening daily around the state.

“So, I would say under the last administration, it was more of only the worst, whereas this one, we’re faithfully executing the laws of the United States,” he said during an interview with FOX45 News. “If someone’s here illegally in the United States and we come across them, they’re going to be arrested.”

When asked if the Trump administration is encouraging “collateral arrests” — those who are picked up during unrelated enforcement actions — Elliston said violent criminals are still the priority. He didn’t say whether the federal government had set a target number for arrests. Instead, Elliston touted the work his agents have done thus far.

“In this administration, there are no free passes. If we come across you and you’re illegally in the United States, we’re going to arrest you,” Elliston said. “We have overall goals, but it’s not like a quota system like I’m not getting in trouble when we don’t, you know, meet those numbers. The expectation is that we are out faithfully executing the mission every day.”

State lawmakers have introduced several bills involving immigration: The Rachel Morin Act would require ICE detainers to be honored by local jails and detention centers; another bill deals with data privacy for people in the country illegally; another proposal would cancel all 287-G programs (state and local law enforcement partnerships with the federal government to enforce immigration laws) and prevent future agreements from being formed; and a bill to prohibit ICE from arresting people in protected spaces, like churches, hospitals and schools.

Currently, Cecil, Frederick, and Harford counties allow detention center staff to run names of inmates through a database to check for immigration enforcement actions and if there is a detainer, to notify ICE.

“The hardest part is that you know we don’t always know who’s in the jail. In prison, we don’t know,” Elliston said. “And that’s where 287-G comes in. They’re going to be the ones to identify those cases and bring them to light.”

According to ICE, Carroll and Washington counties’ participation in the program is pending.

Supporters of the bill aimed at ending the 287-G program argued ICE shouldn’t be utilizing state resources for immigration enforcement.

As for the protected spaces proposal, Trump issued an executive order allowing ICE enforcement in such sensitive locations, rolling back previous protections under the Biden Administration.

“No one wants to see convicted violent criminals hanging around in our communities,” Del. David Moon, D-Montgomery County, said about the sensitive locations bill. “Nevertheless, we don’t want to be traumatizing children by having aggressive enforcement activities happening outside.

“Our hope with that kind of legislative discussion is whether you can have a reasonable discussion about these things where we’re not unnecessarily traumatizing people who have done nothing wrong,” Moon continued.

Elliston said his agents are not going into Maryland schools. However, he said keeping the protection in place makes it harder for the agency to arrest violent criminals if they are in the area.

“Our sensitive locations policy was changed for the sole reason that previously it wasn’t the location itself that was off limits. It was a two-block radius around it,” he said. “We were finding that you know, very savvy criminals were seeking out churches and schools to live across the street from knowing that they would be shielded.”

If the legislation does pass, Elliston said he’s not worried about it impacting his ability to carry out the same plans.

“I think the supremacy clause of the United States is pretty clear on this — the legislature doesn’t get to dictate how I operate,” he said.

Maryland doesn’t have a policy on honoring ICE detainers. Jurisdictions have generally found ways to work with immigration authorities, except for Prince George’s and Howard counties, which don’t comply with detainers. Elliston said he’s asked the U.S. Department of Justice to sue the two counties for not complying with federal immigration orders.

When asked what he wants locals to do, Gov. Wes Moore, a Democrat, has said Maryland is going to follow the Constitution.

“We are going to make sure that local jurisdictions are following the Constitution. We are going to make sure that for violent offenders, we are cooperating, and we are getting violent offenders off our streets and out of our neighborhoods frankly, regardless of where they come from,” Moore said.

FOX45 News asked the governor if that meant he directed all jurisdictions to cooperate with ICE, given that some jurisdictions do not. Moore said much the same.

“Our local jurisdictions need to follow the Constitution,” he said. “Period, full stop.”

“I really think they’re reflective of the Attorney General Anthony Brown’s guidance to law enforcement about how they are allowed to interact with not only ICE but how ICE can interact with members of the community,” Jeremy Eldridge said during an interview on FOX45. “And a lot of that is really following the same guardrails that are in place for police officers in our own communities, sheriffs in our own communities, as to how they interact with the Fourth Amendment, which is your right to be free of governmental or unreasonable surges and seizures without a warrant, for instance. Fifth Amendment, your interactions with police, whether you give statements and how you’re interviewed. That’s really what he’s alluding to. I just think that he wasn’t able to clearly elucidate those talking points.”

Eldridge said it would be beneficial, though, for a statewide policy to ensure community members, law enforcement, and federal partners have a clear understanding of what’s in place.

In the meantime, the back-and-forth policy changes don’t seem to phase Elliston. He said his agency is nimble and is no stranger to new administrations ushering in new policies and expectations.

“We are very dynamic agency. We’ve seen this before with policy changes,” he said. “The end of the day, we all serve with the pleasure of the President of the United States.”

Have a news tip? Contact Mikenzie Frost at mbfrost@sbgtv.com.