Montgomery County’s Board of Commissioners announced a policy Wednesday that bars county employees from cooperating with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement when they are not legally required to do so. The protocol is effective immediately.

“It is not the responsibility of the County or its employees to enforce federal immigration law,” the policy reads, while also noting that county employees “should not interfere with or obstruct federal immigration agents conducting enforcement activities.”

The policy is the latest effort by Democratic Commissioners Neil Makhija and Jamila Winder to respond to calls to better protect the rights of immigrant residents amid ongoing ICE raids that have seen dozens of people reportedly detained in the Norristown area alone in recent weeks.

Last week, the Montgomery County Correctional Facility updated its policies to require a judicial warrant in order to detain people on behalf of ICE. Previously, the facility honored detainers as well as judicial warrants to detain people on behalf of ICE for up to four hours after they paid bail and were otherwise free to go.

Under the policy announced Wednesday, county employees are not allowed to share an individual’s name, work or home address, immigration status, country of origin, program participation or appointment schedules to ICE or any federal immigration agency without the county solicitor’s approval.

The county requires a judicial warrant or judicially authorized subpoena before providing any person’s information to federal immigration agents.

“This ensures that we maintain our commitment to the rule of law, to due process and protecting the privacy and dignity of every individual,” Makhija said at Wednesday’s meeting.