WASHINGTON (TNND) — With the stroke of a pen, certain partnerships between local law enforcement and federal immigration agents are now banned in the state of Maryland.
On Tuesday, Maryland Gov. Wes Moore signed into law SB 245 and House Bill 444, known as “Public Safety – Immigration Enforcement Agreements – Prohibition.” (TNND)
On Tuesday, Maryland Gov. Wes Moore signed into law SB 245 and House Bill 444, known as “Public Safety – Immigration Enforcement Agreements – Prohibition.”
“In Maryland, we will not allow untrained, unqualified, and unaccountable agents to deputize our brave local law enforcement officers,” Moore said.
While Moore vowed to still keep violent criminals off the street, the new law blocks what’s known as 287-g agreements, which grant federal immigration authority to some local officers.
Tammy Nobles, the mother of Kayla Hamilton, killed by an illegal immigrant in 2022, spoke out against the legislation in an interview with WBFF.
“I don’t know why Governor Moore is protecting all of these illegal immigrant criminals. He should be protecting citizens like Kayla,” she said.
Some local sheriffs are outraged and vowing to fight back.
“I know this program has kept my county safe,” said Chuck Jenkins, Frederick County Sheriff.
Others pushed back against the notion that the law will mean fewer ICE agents on the streets.
“Doing away with 287(g) has been sold by some legislators as the solution to getting ICE out of Maryland. The opposite will happen. You will still see ice, probably in greater numbers, doing the mission that they are lawfully required and charged to do,” said Jeff Gahler, Harford County Sheriff.
As tactics by immigration agents remain central to the partial government shutdown in Washington, Mayors in some cities led by Democrats have signed Executive Orders to restrict their actions, including in Boston, New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, Oakland and Seattle.
The actions taken by ICE have been highly criticized.
This week, Politico reported on “women being separated from their nursing infants or housed in cramped and ill-equipped ICE facilities while pregnant, in conditions that threaten their health and have, in some cases, been followed by miscarriages.”
A judge in Minnesota ordered the immediate release of one woman from Burma, also known as Myanmar, who’s been living in the country for more than a year, but was recently detained and separated from her nursing baby.
Judge Michael J. Davis wrote, “There is something particularly craven about transferring a nursing refugee mother out-of-state.”
The White House continues to push back against cities and states that don’t allow local law enforcement to work with ICE. Trump administration officials insist the people who live in these communities will be the ones to suffer.
“This is another horrible and frankly, political action taken by Governor Wes Moore, and unfortunately, the people of his state are going to reap the consequences of it,” said White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt, during a Press Briefing Wednesday.
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