By Aline Behar Kado
ANNAPOLIS – A bill banning local law enforcement agencies from cooperating with Immigration and Customs Enforcement passed the Senate Thursday.
The legislation, Senate Bill 245, would prohibit any law enforcement agency in Maryland from entering into agreements to cooperate with ICE in what is known as the 287(g) program. The measure would also require local enforcement agencies that have existing agreements to terminate them by July.
The legislation is marked as an emergency bill, which means it would take effect immediately upon the governor’s approval. Gov. Wes Moore told reporters he is eager to sign the bill last Friday.
The bill, which the House passed last week, has quickly moved through both chambers as public backlash heightens against ICE. The federal agency has come under fire over what activists call aggressive tactics, including two recent deaths in Minneapolis.
“The bill is very important because it’s a symbol and it’s a message that we’re going to disentangle ourselves from normal cooperation with ICE under these conditions,” said Sen. William C. Smith, D- Montgomery County.
These agreements hurt public safety across the state and lead to community members being afraid to interact with local law enforcement, Smith told Capital New Service.
More than 150 individuals have been apprehended by ICE under Maryland’s 287(g) program since the Trump administration returned to office last year, according to an updated CNS data analysis of ICE apprehension records.
“I think that under this administration, those programs have been abused and have ensnared people that it was never intended to ensnare, and have divided community, have terrorized communities,” said Smith.
Some civil liberties advocates believe these agreements have led to racial profiling by some local law enforcement officers.
“We’re seeing that local police officers are using racial profiling for minor traffic offenses to get people into the local county jail,” said Taj Smith, president of the Washington County NAACP. “And then they are detaining people and forwarding them to ICE.”
Though Washington County has a recent 287(g) agreement, she said the immigrant community there has been in hiding since the Trump administration took office last January.
Sen. Justin Ready, R- Carroll and Frederick Counties, pushed back against advocates’ arguments that immigrant families will be afraid to call local law enforcement with the agreements.
“If someone doesn’t understand the way the process works, they’ll be afraid of calling the police because they’re illegally here anyway,” said Ready. “I mean, we don’t want them to be…But, I think that that is going to be the case no matter whether there’s a 287(g) program or not.”
Nine Maryland counties have 287(g) agreements under the Jail Enforcement or Warrant Service Officer Model, according to ICE. Under the program, individuals in local jails can be held for transfer into ICE custody.
Some senators opposing the bill have said banning these agreements could invoke retribution from the federal government and increase ICE presence in local communities.
”Some of the constituents, some of the interest groups, are like, ‘We want ICE out of here,’” said Ready. “You’re gonna get the opposite result, and that’s not a threat. ICE has to come find people when they have a detainer on someone.”
Yanet Amanuel, public policy director for ACLU of Maryland, said that just banning such agreements is not enough. She said the legislature should also take up Senate Bill 791, which would restrict informal cooperation between local and federal law enforcement agencies.
“We are already seeing street arrests,” said Amanuel. “We can learn from other states like New Jersey who have banned 287(g), but did not eliminate informal agreements with ICE.”
“It is really important that we close all the loops,” she said.
