MARYLAND (WBFF) — While many lawmakers stand behind new immigration laws in Maryland, some Republican lawmakers are questioning the Community Trust Act, which is becoming law without Governor Wes Moore‘s signature.
“We know that trust matters when it comes to law enforcement and the people that they serve,” Senate President Bill Ferguson said.
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The Community Trust Act is an immigration bill which curbs local cooperation with federal immigration officials. Under the legislation, a felony conviction or a judicial warrant must be present before local law enforcement could communicate with ICE about someone’s immigration status.
“We cannot keep community safe if people are being stripped of their rights. When ICE is pulling mothers out of their cars and detaining five-year-olds, we need to move forward. And I am so glad that these are becoming part of Maryland law,” Ferguson added.
While there have been reports of incidents happening around the country, in Maryland it is not clear how many cases involving ICE misconduct have occurred. Senate President Ferguson did not respond to a request for comment as of Wednesday evening.
“If you want to stop the kinds of things like we might have seen around the country, where ICE agents are going to apprehend folks in the streets, you should want to have them work with law enforcement when someone is already in their custody. It actually has the exact opposite effect, and will, in fact, encourage more of those kinds of situations to occur, because now law enforcement, local law enforcement, can’t communicate with our federal partners, and so ICE or other federal agencies will have to be back in the streets going after these people, as opposed to a simple prisoner transfer, like they’ve been doing for years, here safely and effectively in Maryland,” Delegate Ryan Nawrocki said.
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While immigration issues contributed to fierce debate during the recent legislative session, many lawmakers arguing in favor of the new policies referred to national issues.
During an interview early in the session, House Speaker Joseline Peña-Melnyk said, “They’re losing their lives in the U.S. and just because it hasn’t happened here doesn’t mean that it’s not going to happen because it’s still ICE.”
In Baltimore City, council members earlier this year took steps to limit the city’s cooperation with federal officials. However, despite concerns, some city leaders said at the time they had not personally witnessed ICE breaking the law.
“I have not personally. However, we know they’re seeing an escalation,” Baltimore City Council Member Odette Ramos said.
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