Law enforcement officers entering the Clarence M. Mitchell Jr. Courthouse, Elijah E. Cummings Courthouse and Baltimore City Juvenile Justice Center on official business must first check in with the sheriff’s office, identify themselves and disclose the purpose of their visit, according to a new administrative order.

In the one-page order dated on Monday, Baltimore Administrative and Chief Judge Audrey J.S. Carrión wrote that it’s crucial that court management and the sheriff’s office be aware of any law enforcement activity that’s taking place.

The order also dictates that law enforcement officers must wear the uniform of their agency. If they’re in plainclothes, they must prominently display their identification card or badge.

In an email, Nick Cavey, a spokesperson for the Maryland Judiciary, said Carrión issued the order to “emphasize and reaffirm the preexisting protocols of the Circuit Court for Baltimore City.”

But her order comes less than one week after the sheriff’s office reported that a Maryland Department of Public Safety and Correctional Services pretrial services employee invited U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement into the Clarence M. Mitchell Jr. Courthouse for an appointment.

Sheriff’s deputies on June 24 escorted ICE agents to the fourth floor and then watched them meet with the employee before taking someone into custody.

Elected officials, advocates and public defenders condemned the action, and the Baltimore City Sheriff’s Office has launched a criminal investigation.

“When immigrant communities fear ICE will take them away at the courthouse, it degrades my mission as sheriff to protect the right to access justice,” Baltimore Sheriff Sam Cogen said in a statement.

Meanwhile, Crisaly de los Santos, CASA Baltimore and Central Maryland director, said she was “deeply concerned that local law enforcement could be collaborating with ICE to target immigrant community members at courthouses.”

Baltimore District Public Defender Marguerite Lanaux said when pretrial service employees contact ICE, “they not only violate the protocols of their job, but circumvent our justice system.”

Lanaux said the move “instills fear of the legal system in immigrant communities and makes us all less safe.”

“This does not just impact people reporting to pretrial, but also those who need to get a protective order, file a lawsuit, contest an eviction, or fight for custody of their children,” Lanaux said in a statement. “The list of people subject to ICE arrest is expanding day by day, but everyone should feel safe in the city’s courts regardless of what is happening in Washington.”