Community members share concerns during county council open discussion session

WICOMICO COUNTY, Md. – Tuesday, community members eager to share their concerns joined the Wicomico County council for an open discussion.

Two of the attendees, Mary Ashanti and Eddie Boyd Jr., were also plaintiffs in a lawsuit filed by the ACLU, for what they called suppression of Black political power in Wicomico County. That lawsuit was settled outside of court.

But now, Ashanti said there are other issues they need to address.

“I’ve gotten some reports that ICE and law enforcement, not on a regular basis, are kind of showing up together. We don’t want this to happen in Wicomico County,” said Ashanti.

Those concerns sparked after Wicomico County Sheriff Mike Lewis announced his office, and the county executive’s office, were working on a Memorandum Of Understanding with Immigration and Customs Enforcement, to help process individuals who come through the Wicomico County Detention Center. Sheriff Lewis stressed that his force will not be on the streets patrolling on behalf of ICE.

If that MOU decision is left up to the council, Ashanti said they should take their concerns into consideration.

“I hope that they understand that the community does not want the Sheriff’s Department or the city of Salisbury to become an extension of ICE,” said Ashanti.

While this is only the first open session, Boyd says he’s looking forward to more to come, to continue upholding transparency in the community.

“I would certainly look forward to continuing this kind of a dialogue, not just for the sake of having this dialogue, but so we can address issues and solve them together,” said Boyd.