As a former Marine Corps law enforcement officer and your representative in Annapolis, my priority has always been simple: keeping our community safe for your family and mine. For over eight years, the Harford County Sheriff’s Office has participated in the federal 287(g) program, a partnership that has served as a pillar of Sheriff Jeff Gahler’s public safety strategy. While some in the legislature view this program through a purely political lens, the reality on the ground in Harford County has been one of increased accountability, safer communities and a stronger bond between law enforcement and all citizens of Harford County.

The 287(g) program is not about “roundups” or profiling; it is a common-sense tool used within the walls of our detention center. When an individual is arrested for a crime and booked into our facility, the program allows trained correctional deputies to identify those who are also in our country illegally. This ensures that when a person victimizes our community — whether through theft, violence, drug distribution or other heinous crimes — our deputies can work hand in hand with federal partners to ensure that, after serving their sentence, offenders are turned over to federal authorities and go through the removal process rather than being released back into our neighborhoods to find their next victim.

During its eight-year tenure in Harford County, the program functioned exactly as intended: as a filter for criminality. It allowed us to identify “the worst of the worst.” We are talking about individuals who have already broken our laws and, in many cases, have violent backgrounds that would otherwise remain hidden without federal database access. By removing these bad actors, I truly believe this program has prevented many future crimes in our communities.

Critics often claim that such programs alienate the immigrant community, but our experience in Harford County has proven the exact opposite. True public safety is built on trust, and that trust grows when the law-abiding public — regardless of status — sees that police are focused on removing the criminals who threaten our safety.

We saw this trust in action during some of our darkest moments. When a workplace triple homicide devastated Advanced Granite and members of our immigrant community were killed, community members stepped up and assisted in the arrest and prosecution of the murderer. More recently, during the heartbreaking investigation into the brutal murder of Rachel Morin, the entire community — including documented and undocumented immigrants — stepped up to help catch a monster. In the Morin case, it was the cooperation of residents and the seamless handoff between local and federal authorities that allowed for the capture and conviction of one of the worst criminals in Harford County’s history, who also happened to be in the country illegally and was wanted for murder in his home country.

The immigrant community in Harford County wants safe streets just as much as anyone else. They have worked with the Sheriff’s Office and supported the program because, as many have told me personally, they are often the most vulnerable to being victimized by those who hide within their community to escape justice.

Law enforcement is most effective when it has every available tool to keep the public safe. For nearly a decade, 287(g) ensured that a “catch and release” system did not apply to those who had no legal right to be here and every intention of doing harm.

As we look toward the future of public safety in Maryland, we must stop apologizing for wanting to enforce the law. We must prioritize the mother jogging on a trail, the employee showing up for a shift at a local business, and the peace of mind of every Harford County resident. The 287(g) program worked because it put the safety of the law-abiding citizen above the comfort of the criminal. That is a standard I will continue to fight for in Annapolis.

Del. Mike Griffith is a Republican representing District 35A, which includes Harford and Cecil counties.