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	Photo by Skip Lawrence Frederick County Sheriff Chuck Jenkins talks Thursday with WFMD radio personality Blaine Young during a sheriff and deputy appreciation event held Thursday at Barley and Hops Grill.

Red, white and blue balloons hung from the beams over booths at Barley and Hops Grill, and some people held signs demonstrating their approval for a federal program that allows the sheriff's office to enforce some federal immigration laws.

One sign expressed support for the sheriff: "Uncontrolled illegal immigration forces legal immigrants to wait in line."

"It's overwhelming and humbling for me," Jenkins said.

He said the outpouring of support at the Frederick restaurant shows people are satisfied with the job he and his agency are doing. Between 50 and 75 people showed up.

Blaine Young, a talk-show host on WFMD radio, organized the event for Jenkins and the sheriff's office at large.

Jenkins and his deputies have come under fire, Young said, and "we want to make sure they're appreciated for the job they're doing."

Roxana Orellana Santos filed a $1 million lawsuit Nov. 10 that alleges two sheriff's deputies violated her civil rights when they stopped and detained her while she was eating her lunch near Evergreen Square on Buckeystown Pike in October 2008.

Jenkins said the allegations in the lawsuit are unfounded. The deputies merely performed their duties when Orellana Santos tried to hide from police as they passed her that day, he said.

When deputies discovered a warrant from federal immigration authorities on a routine search of a national database, they brought her in, he said.

The suit, Jenkins said, seemed to represent a line in the sand for the community, which has expressed support for the sheriff's office.

"This might be the powder keg," he said, that could even spark a national battle over anticipated federal immigration reform, which Jenkins described as potentially being a sort of "amnesty" legislation.

Kerry O'Brien, director of services for CASA de Maryland, which is among several groups representing Orellana Santos, said deputies should not have stopped her.

She was neither committing a crime when she was arrested nor charged with a crime by local police after she was detained, O'Brien said.

Additionally, if there was a warrant for her arrest, O'Brien said it was a civil matter, not something officers not trained under the 287(g) program should have handled.

Orellana Santos, who'd lived in Frederick for four years, is in deportation proceedings and has an immigration lawyer, O'Brien said.

O'Brien said she and the other lawyers in the case think sheriff's deputies are violating the law. Additionally, Jenkins' public statements about the goals of the 287(g) program, which involve fighting serious crime, do not ring true, she said.

She said the program has not made the community safer. About 90 percent of those processed under 287(g) were charged with misdemeanors. More than 90 percent of those had Hispanic ethnicity, and critics claim the program has led to ethnic profiling.

Jenkins said he has no plans to end the agreement with Immigration and Customs Enforcement, which he said has reduced crime in the county.

He said the county government will provide legal representation in the Orellana Santos suit.

Scott Rosenfeld of Mount Airy said he respected the sheriff's office for upholding the law.

His sister-in-law is a legal resident from Russia, he said, and spent several years obtaining permission to enter the country.

"Illegal immigrants are illegal, as such, they need to be held accountable," he said. "It's cut and dry."

Bill Soper, a Frederick County resident since the mid-1950s, said he thinks Jenkins was doing the right thing regarding the 287(g) agreement.

Soper said he'd like to see the lawsuit against the sheriff "go all the way," and thinks Orellana Santos would ultimately be defeated.

Tim Jones drove from his house in Washington County to shake hands with Jenkins and show his support.

Jones said while he doesn't begrudge people who seek to provide for their families, there is a right and wrong way to immigrate to the country.

"Why is he (Jenkins) the lone man in the field standing up?" Jones asked.

Jones said he hopes the event would send a wind to Jenkins' sails that could propel him to higher office.