WASHINGTON, D.C. -- The acting head of the Department of Homeland Security is pushing back against claims that ICE retaliated against communities in North Carolina that stopped honoring detainers.

“There’s no policy of retaliation for jurisdictions, first and foremost, and there won’t be under my tenure,” said Acting Secretary Kevin McAleenan.

McAleenan was responding to questions from Rep. David Price, D-4th District, who asked about the recent uptick in ICE arrests across the state during a congressional hearing Tuesday.

In February, ICE arrested about 200 undocumented immigrants in a matter of a week across North Carolina. Price asked him if that was a form of retaliation after several sheriffs stopped cooperating with the federal agency on certain immigration matters.

“I was hoping he would say that their policy was not to retaliate. He did say that, and we’ll hold him to that, but his own Atlanta director said the opposite,” Price said.

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Price’s concerns stem from comments that Sean Gallagher, the Atlanta Field Office Director for ICE, made during a press conference in February around the time of the arrests.

“The uptick that you’ve seen again is the direct result of some of the dangerous policies that some of our county sheriffs have put into place,” he said.

Durham is one of the counties that instituted a new policy. The sheriff there announced they are no longer honoring ICE detainer requests. As part of a retainer, local municipalities agree to hold on to certain undocumented immigrants so federal authorities can take them into custody.

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Durham Sheriff Clarence Birkhead said in an interview Friday that he stands by his policy change, arguing it will allow him to build trust with the Latino Community and help him fight crime. “We want to build a community that is welcoming, open, affirming,” he said.

As for the acting secretary’s claim that ICE has no policy of retaliation, he said he is not sure what to believe.

“We’re more than willing to cooperate with our federal, state, and local partners to combat crime,” he said. “But honoring ICE detainers is not something we’re going to do.”

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As part of his testimony, McAleenan argued that cooperation between ICE and local law enforcement is key, saying it is safer and easier to pick up undocumented immigrants at a jail rather than going into communities and doing arrests.