Former Maryland governor predicts police will ignore law banning ICE cooperation

HUNT VALLEY, Md. (TNND) — Larry Hogan, who served as Maryland’s governor from 2015 to 2023, predicted Thursday that local police will ignore a new state law banning their cooperation with federal immigration agents.

“In my state, they just passed a bill – Governor Moore signed an emergency bill to prohibit local law enforcement cooperating with ICE,” Hogan said at a Washington, D.C. Politico summit.

“And, you know, all the local law enforcement … we’re going to ignore that because we’re required to work with them.”

The arguments behind the legality of Maryland’s law, which Governor Wes Moore approved on Tuesday, and similar statutes in other states are complex. States with sanctuary laws have said that they alone can direct local relationships with the federal government, while the Trump administration has argued that federal statues prohibit noncooperation.

At the summit, Hogan acknowledged Maryland’s concerns with the administration’s actions but also recognized the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS)’s worries about the safety threat posed by some illegal immigrants.

“I get the whole, you know, overreach and overstep and doing the wrong things, but, you know, when they have violent criminals that they’re holding in jail that ICE wants to be detained … they shouldn’t be let back on the streets,” the former governor said.

“There’s two sides to this argument.”

Moore has said that Maryland’s new law doesn’t authorize the release of criminals or impact policies on requests made by DHS. Local agencies can continue working with the Trump administration to remove immigrants who threaten public safety, according to the governor.

“This bill draws a clear line: we will continue to work with federal partners to hold violent offenders accountable, but we refuse to blur the lines between state and federal authority in ways that undermine the trust between law enforcement and the communities they serve,” Moore said in a statement.

The state’s House Republican caucus suggested after the law’s passage that some local police will continue working – albeit informally – with ICE. The law only makes it harder for law enforcement to protect the public, according to the group.

“It also increases the chances of ICE operations with armed officers in our communities, and the possibility of negative interactions and the chaotic and tragic events we have seen in places like Minneapolis, a jurisdiction that has recently agreed to provide more cooperation with ICE via the types of agreements Maryland is banning under this law,” the caucus said.

Leaders in Minneapolis, where clashes between residents and immigration agents intensified last month, have insisted the city does not participate in federal enforcement operations.

Have questions, concerns or tips? Send them to Ray at rjlewis@sbgtv.com.