ANNAPOLIS – Gov. Wes Moore and Maryland leaders signed a bill Tuesday that will ban local law enforcement agencies from entering into agreements with Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
“In Maryland, we defend constitutional rights and we defend constitutional policing,” Moore said at the bill signing in the State House. “We defend and support our trained law enforcement in our state, but we will not allow them to be deputized by agencies that do not hold the same standards.”
The agreements known as the 287(g) program allowed sheriffs to transfer individuals from local jails into ICE custody. The bill will end agreements in nine counties by July.
Local sheriffs can still cooperate with federal agencies to address public safety priorities and can notify ICE about the impending release of an individual of interest from custody, according to Moore.
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Frederick County Sheriff Chuck Jenkins previously told CNS he believed there would be a constitutional challenge to the legislation.
Other critics of the bill said the ban will lead to more ICE presence in the state.
“Ending 287(g) doesn’t end federal enforcement — it just ends local coordination that included documentation, training support and funding from the federal government,” Sen. Justin Ready, R-Carroll and Frederick Counties, said in a statement. “Cooperation between local and federal law enforcement produces greater public safety for everyone.”
A similar bill failed in the Maryland legislature last year. This year, the measure was marked as an emergency bill and moved through both chambers quickly.
Lt. Gov. Aruna Miller, Senate President Bill Ferguson and House Speaker Joseline Peña-Melnyk, all Democrats, also signed the legislation Tuesday.
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“It’s not lost on me that this is my first bill signing,” said Peña-Melnyk, who recalled immigrating from the Dominican Republic as a child.
“In our state, we value respect. We value empathy. We value people’s contribution. We value the Constitution. We value and support and protect civil rights,” said Peña-Melnyk. “We are going to be unapologetic of the values we stand for.”
Some advocates said the legislation is not enough. Progressive Maryland, a political organization that supported the 287(g) ban, is also backing Senate Bill 791, or the Community Trust Act.
The act would prevent local law enforcement agencies from sharing information that would facilitate ICE arrests and ensure correctional facilities have judicial warrants to detain, or prolong a person’s detention, before their transfer to ICE.
“The bill to end 287(g) programs is a major victory, one that our communities fought hard to win, but it was only the first step,” said Christianne Marguerite, director of communications at Progressive Maryland. “We must continue pushing for the additional bills that will protect the greatest number of people, especially the most vulnerable.”