Authorities Detain 45 in Immigration Raid at Painting Company

ICE officials said they appreciated the assistance of county police in the raids but said their investigation was unrelated to the county's new policies.

ICE officials received the tip about Annapolis Painting Services 18 months ago, just as Leopold was taking office and months before he had announced his policies.

"We receive leads like this all the time, and we prioritize them to focus on the most egregious violators," Rittenberg said. "In this case it was in Anne Arundel County."

In August, Leopold issued an executive order declaring that the county would sever contracts with any business employing illegal immigrants. The order was largely symbolic, as it included no enforcement measures.

He also cut county grants to nonprofit agencies that offered social services to Spanish-speaking residents.

In addition, Leopold assigned a full-time county detective to a federal task force cracking down on counterfeit documents used by illegal immigrants.

And he instituted a policy that county jails must notify ICE immediately when foreign-born inmates are processed in county detention centers so that their immigration status can be checked.