The Maryland Senate could be taking up bills as early as this week to ban agreements between local police and federal immigration authorities and to prohibit masks on law enforcement agents, after the Senate Judicial Proceedings Committee approved both Tuesday.
The committee vote came less than a week after hours of testimony on the two bills, and the same day that the House Judiciary Committee was holding its own combative hearing on a companion bill to do away with the so-called 287(g) agreements between Immigration and Customs Enforcement and local sheriff’s departments. Nine Maryland counties have entered into such agreements, which require their jails to hold undocumented suspects for transfer to ICE for deportation proceedings.
Both the House and Senate committee hearings took place against the backdrop of increased scrutiny of aggressive immigration enforcement, after federal agents fatally shot Alex Pretti, 37, in Minnesota. That shooting came weeks after an ICE agent shot and killed Renee Good, also 37, in Minneapolis.
Trump administration policies were never far from the discussion in Annapolis Tuesday.
“We need to just get out of this business right now,” said Sen. William C. Smith Jr. (D-Montgomery), chair of Judicial Proceedings and lead sponsor of Senate Bill 245, which would ban 287(g) agreements.
The committee voted 8-3, along party lines, to approve the bill prohibiting local police or any “agent of the state” from entering into an agreement with the federal government to enforce civil immigration law.
The vote came after the committee rejected an amendment from Sen. Mary-Dulany James (D-Harford) that would not have banned the agreements but would have prohibited certain immigration enforcement activities by local police “unless an individual has been charged with or convicted of a felony.” Her amendment also would have required correctional facilities to report information to the Governor’s Office of Crime Prevention and Policy.
“I have a sheriff who I have a lot of respect for who’s been running a 287(g) jail-based program, as have some other jurisdictions in Maryland,” James said. “I’m impressed with how it’s run. They [ICE agents] are nothing like the people that I’m seeing on the TV screen in the streets.”
Smith urged the committee to reject the amendment, citing how immigration enforcement is being handled by federal agents.
After about 30 minutes of debate, the committee rejected James’ amendment by a 7-4 vote, with all three committee Republicans — Sens. William G. Folden of Frederick County, Chris West of Baltimore and Carroll counties, and Mike McWay of Western Maryland — joining James in support.
During a briefing with reporters Tuesday morning, Senate President Bill Ferguson (D-Baltimore City) defended Smith’s bill, calling the operations of ICE and the Department of Homeland Security under the Trump administration “unconstitutional and unlawful.”
“I’m very cognizant that we could see something happen in Maryland, and we want to make sure that we’re prepared as possible for whatever surge could happen,” Ferguson said. “The partnership with an organization that’s operating with the procedures that it has right now is undermining faith in law enforcement.”
If approved, Maryland would join several Democratic-led states, including Delaware, Illinois, and New Jersey, in banning such agreements. California lawmakers are also working to limit the agreements.
‘Storm troopers’
The Judicial Proceedings Committee spent about 70 minutes on face-covering legislation sponsored by Sen. Malcolm Augustine (D-Prince George’s) before voting 7-4 to move the bill to the full Senate, with James again joining the three Republicans.
Senate Bill 1 would prohibit face coverings on law enforcement officials working in the state, including ICE agents who are typically masked. The bill would ban items such as balaclavas, ski masks, or neck gaiters while officers are on duty. Exceptions would be allowed for undercover operations, motorcycle helmets, religious garments, or health-related reasons.
The committee approved amendments requiring the Maryland Police Training and Standards Commission to develop a uniform policy prohibiting face coverings, rather than a model policy. Violations would be civil offenses instead of criminal ones, with fines of up to $1,500 instead of potential jail time.
Even with those changes, opponents were not fully satisfied.
West said he agrees that officers should not resemble “storm troopers in Star Wars,” but warned of potential conflicts between state and federal law enforcement.
“The local officers are going to say, ‘You’re obstructing justice. I’m putting you under arrest,’” West said. “And the ICE officers are going to respond by saying, ‘You’re obstructing federal officers. I’m putting you under arrest.’ This is bad. It’s not going to end happily.”
Sen. Jeff Waldstreicher (D-Montgomery), vice chair of the committee, said the vote sent a message that federal actions conflict with Maryland values.
“We as a legislature have a duty to respond,” Waldstreicher said. “The committee had a legitimate debate, and we sent it to the Senate floor to continue that conversation.”
Ferguson said both measures could be debated on the Senate floor as early as Thursday.
287(g) in the House
About two hours before the Senate committee vote, the House Judiciary Committee held a hearing on a House version of the 287(g) bill sponsored by Del. Nicole Williams (D-Prince George’s).
Williams said ICE does not improve public safety, even in Maryland jurisdictions that have signed agreements.
One day after Wicomico County Executive Julie Giordano (R) testified against the Senate bill, she announced on social media that the county had signed a 287(g) agreement, becoming the ninth in Maryland to do so.
“Officials who signed these agreements claim they enhance public safety, but that’s false,” Williams said. “They drain taxpayer dollars from real law enforcement work and offer no reimbursement for staff or overtime.”
Del. Lauren Arikan (R-Harford) asked whether Williams was prepared for President Donald Trump to send ICE teams into the state if the agreements were eliminated.
“There will be blood on the hands of people that move this when folks die,” Arikan said.
“ICE shouldn’t be randomly engaging in shooting individuals,” Williams responded, noting ICE activity in her district despite no 287(g) agreement.
Del. Susan McComas (R-Harford) said jurisdictions should decide for themselves.
“If the community wants ICE, then let them have it,” she said.
When Del. Nino Mangione (R-Baltimore County) asked why legal immigrants would fear enforcement, several audience members laughed.
“I would say basically every news story for the past 12 months explains why,” Comptroller Brooke Lierman said. “Legal, documented immigrants also have a reasonable fear of interacting with Immigration and Customs Enforcement.”
By William J. Ford
Write a Letter to the Editor on this Article
We encourage readers to offer their point of view on this article by submitting the following form. Editing is sometimes necessary and is done at the discretion of the editorial staff.