PGPD Officers Told Not To Help ICE In Noncriminal Cases: Report

PRINCE GEORGE'S COUNTY, MD — Prince George's County Police are being instructed not to cooperate with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement in cases of noncriminal deportations, according to a report.

The Washington Post reports that the department launched training efforts this week that direct officers not to help with attempts to enforce civil deportation orders, including a brief video that will be played at the start of roll call reminding them that cooperation should only happen on a criminal immigration warrant or in connection with a narrow range of crimes.

While Prince George's County has ignored ICE detainers for noncriminal deportations in the past, officers were "mistakenly" alerting ICE after stopping undocumented immigrants with civil removal orders, the Post reported.

The arrests stemmed from confusion over FBI's language, which refers to an "outstanding administrative warrant of removal." That is a civil summons, not a criminal warrant, according to the report.