Montgomery County unveils portal to track ICE activity on county property

Montgomery County Executive Mark Eldridge and County Council President Natalie Fani Gonzalez on Tuesday unveiled a new county website portal that lets residents report observed ICE activity on county property.

Eldridge said the portal is intended to centralize reports and correct misinformation circulating on social media. "The ICE reporting portal is an easy access website that allows our community to share information about ICE activity within the county," he said, adding that the tool will help the county collect data so officials can respond with non‑law‑enforcement measures where appropriate.

Gonzalez said the portal is linked to recently passed local measures intended to limit ICE operations on county property and to provide resources to immigrant residents. "If you go to the website, which is montgomerycountymd.gov/protecting, you'll see the list of resources that we have, including the phone number for CASA's rapid response hotline," she said, noting educational videos and one‑pagers in multiple languages.

Officials described the portal as an observational, non‑real‑time intake system. "This is not intended to be there will not be an immediate response to a report," said Dr. Erlstider, an assistant chief administrative officer, explaining submissions will go into a SharePoint file for staff review and deconfliction. He said reports of alleged mask or ICE violations on county property are routed to the county attorney's office for evidentiary review; reports of ICE staging in parking lots are shared with the Department of Transportation and the police for trend analysis.

County officials said the portal is meant to complement, not replace, existing hotlines and partner groups that supply direct services after immigration actions. "If immigration action has been taken and there are displaced families, calling the CASA helpline is the right way to go," Dr. Erlstider said.

Officials also described concrete follow‑through the county might take after trends are identified — for example, adding signage, gates or other physical measures to prevent ICE from using county parking lots to stage operations. Luisa Cardona, an assistant chief administrative officer, said signage is already installed at some county facilities and will be extended: "We already have signage on a few county buildings," she said, noting the Silver Spring Civic Center and the Department of Health and Human Services at the Hungerford Building as sites with posted signage and that downloadable signs are available for private organizations.

County leaders emphasized legal limits on local authority. Gonzalez reiterated that county laws restrict assisting ICE on county property but do not prevent federal agents from entering Montgomery County: "The federal government is allowed to come to Montgomery County ... but we as a county have passed laws to ensure that we're not assisting them in any way," she said.

Council leaders referenced several recently passed measures by name while describing the portal's legal framework, including the Trust Act and the County Values Act; officials said the portal is housed alongside these resources on the county website.

The briefing produced no new enforcement authorities or votes; officials said staff time and existing county resources were used to build the portal and described the cost as nominal. They said they will determine public reporting formats after reviewing early submission patterns and validating reports for quality.