The official audit has not yet been released.
Frederick, MD – Frederick County Sheriff Chuck Jenkins continues to speak out against the third-party audit of the 287(g) program partnership with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).
Jenkins was a recent guest on WFMD’s Mid Maryland Live and said the audit was a tool used to discredit his office and the program.
“This was a political attack on me” Jenkins said. “It had nothing to do with the cost of the program, it had nothing to do with the success of the program.”
Under the 287(g) program, deputies can inquire about the immigration status of suspects they detain at a detention center, and ICE also pays the sheriff’s office to temporarily jail undocumented immigrants.
Jenkins said the county receives $83 daily from Immigration and Customs Enforcement for each person detained at the jail and around 1,560 people have been deported since the program began in Frederick County back in April 2008.
Frederick County Councilman Michael Blue said he supports Sheriff Chuck Jenkins’ decision to take part in the program, but 287(g) should still be audited.
“Pretty much any county agency, especially one that is so controversial, should be subject to an audit,” he said.
The audit was estimated to cost about $19,739 and was conducted by CliftonLarsonAllen, a third-party national accounting firm.
“The county’s going to spend $20,000 on it that they didn’t need to spend,” Jenkins said.
The firm audited the program under the scope of five fiscal years, examining any reimbursements from ICE and also the incremental costs of the 287(g) program.
A federal lawsuit related to the handling of the 287(g) program was filed in 2019 against Frederick County, the Frederick County Sheriff’s Office, Sheriff Jenkins and two of his deputies for a 2018 traffic stop involving the detention and alleged racial profiling of a Latina woman.
The official report of the audit has not yet been released.
By Timothy Young