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Politics & Government

Hispanic Business Leader Chastises County Council

'The Montgomery County Council has taken a very unusual position. That doesn't help us,' Jorge Ribas, president of the Mid-Atlantic Hispanic Chamber of Commerce.

The head of a Germantown-based advocacy organization for Hispanics is expressing concern about the Montgomery County Council’s reluctance to participate in the federal Secure Communities program.

The program would require Montgomery County detention centers to send inmates’ fingerprints to a national database to help U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement identify and deport illegal immigrants, beginning Sept. 27.

Council Executive Isiah Leggett and members of the County Council investigated legal options to oppose the county’s participation.

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This week, critics after receiving a terse letter from ICE informing them they must comply with the Secure Communities program.

Jorge Ribas, president of the Mid-Atlantic Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, accused Leggett and other council members of "political posturing" by opposing the program. The Chamber is an advocacy organization that promotes business among the Hispanic population.

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Ribas said the Chamber supports allowing "decent people" to immigrate to the United States but wants to keep out criminals. 

"If they’re convicted of a crime, he or she should be deported," Ribas said.

If criminals from abroad are allowed to stay in Montgomery County, "the businesses are going to leave," Ribas said.

Earlier this week, the County Council passed a resolution that asks federal and county officials to "ensure" Secure Community’s "consistent" application once it comes to Montgomery County. The resolution was sponsored by Councilwoman Nancy Navarro, D-Silver Spring.

"The Montgomery County Council has taken a very unusual position," Ribas said. "That doesn’t help us."

Leggett spokesman Patrick Lacefield said that the chances the county would seek to oppose Securities Communities were "none."

"Montgomery County will comply with the program when it is mandated this Sept. 27," Lacefield said. "We will work with ICE to make sure it is applied fairly."

The decision frustrated some Latino advocates.

Gustavo Andrade, senior organizing manager for the immigration advocacy group Casa of Maryland, said the county should sue the federal government rather than cave to the imposition of Secure Communities.

"We don’t believe that they have any legal authority to force local jurisdictions into their failed deportation programs," Andrade said.

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