Maryland’s top lawyer is advising local jails that they should not honor requests from federal officials to hold people suspected of immigration violations for up to 48 hours past their release date.

The guidance from Attorney General Brian Frosh says local jails should only hold suchpeople longer when immigration officials present a warrant signed by a judge. Otherwise, he cautioned, the jails could be sued for unlawful detention under the Fourth Amendment of the Constitution.

Frosh, a Democrat, said he offered the advice because of confusion amid President Donald Trump’s pronouncements to crack down on immigration violators and some lawmakers’ efforts to pass legislation in Maryland to regulate local involvement in immigration enforcement.

Since the last time the Maryland attorney general’s office issued guidance in 2014, “the climate has shifted dramatically,” Frosh said in an interview. “There is a great deal of fear and anxiety and certainly a lot of uncertainty about what the law is. ... We thought it was important for us to re-emphasize what the law is,” Frosh said.

The local immigrant-rights group CASA applauded Frosh.

“We think it’s very helpful and necessary,” said Nick Katz, CASA’s senior manager of legal services. “We hope that law enforcement agencies read it and comply with the recommendations that he makes.”

Baltimore’s jail, which is run by the state, does not honor ICE detainer requests without a judicial warrant, so Frosh’s guidance won’t affect the jail’s policies, said state corrections spokesman Gerard Shields.

For the first time, Frosh’s advice addresses partnerships in which local law enforcement officials are trained by the federal government and become deputized to carry out certain federal immigration duties.

Known as 287(g) programs, for the portion of federal law that authorizes them, they’ve come under fire from advocates for immigrants and civil liberties.

Frosh’s guidance notes that it’s permissible for counties to join 287(g) programs, but cautions that the federal government doesn’t necessarily pay for them.

And the programs have the potential to open the door to illegal racial profiling, Frosh wrote.

pwood@baltsun.com

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