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The Maryland Senate could be taking up bills as early as this week to ban agreements between local police and federal immigration authorities and to prohibit masks on law enforcement agents, after the Senate Judicial Proceedings Committee approved both Tuesday.
The committee vote came less than a week after聽聽on the two bills, and the same day that the House Judiciary Committee was holding its own combative hearing on a companion bill to do away with the so-called 287(g) agreements between Immigration and Customs Enforcement and local sheriff鈥檚 departments. Nine Maryland counties have entered into such agreements, that require their jails to hold undocumented suspects to hand over to ICE for deportation proceedings.
Both the House and Senate committee hearings took place against the backdrop of increased scrutiny of increasingly aggressive immigration enforcement, after federal agents fatally聽shot聽聽in Minnesota. That shooting came weeks after an ICE agent shot and killed Renee Good, also 37, in Minneapolis.
The Trump administration policies were never far from the discussion in Annapolis Tuesday.
鈥淲e need to just get out of this business right now,鈥� said Sen. William C. Smith Jr. (D-Montgomery), chair of Judicial Proceedings and lead sponsor of聽, which would ban 287(g) agreements.
The committee voted 8-3, on party lines, to approve the bill that would prohibit local police or any 鈥渁gent of the state鈥� from entering into an agreement with the federal government to enforce civil immigration law.
The vote came after the committee rejected an amendment from Sen. Mary-Dulany James (D-Harford) that would not have banned the agreements, but would have would have prohibited certain immigration enforcement activities by local police 鈥渦nless an individual has been charged with or convicted of a felony.鈥� Her amendment would also have required correctional facilities to report that and other information to the Governor鈥檚 Office of Crime Prevention and Policy.
鈥淚 have a sheriff who I have a lot of respect for who鈥檚 been running a 287(g) jail-based program, as have some other jurisdictions in Maryland,鈥� James said. 鈥淚鈥檓 impressed with how it鈥檚 run. They [ICE agents] are nothing like the people that I鈥檓 seeing on the [TV] screen in the streets.鈥�
But Smith urged the committee to reject the amendment because of how the immigration enforcement is being handled by federal agents.
After about 30 minutes of debate, the committee rejected James鈥� amendment by a 7-4, with all three committee Republicans 鈥� Sens. William G. Folden of Frederick County, Chris West of Baltimore and Carroll counties and Mike McWay of Western Maryland 鈥� joined James in support.
During a briefing with reporters Tuesday morning, Senate President Bill Ferguson (D-Baltimore City) defended Smith鈥檚 bill, calling the operations of ICE and the Department of Homeland Security under the Trump administration 鈥渦nconstitutional and unlawful.鈥�
鈥淚鈥檓 very cognizant that we could see something happen in Maryland, and we want to make sure that we鈥檙e prepared as possible for whatever surge could happen,鈥� he said. 鈥淭he partnership with an organization that鈥檚 operating with the procedures that it has right now is undermining faith in law enforcement.鈥�
If approved, Maryland would join several Democratic-led states including聽,听听补苍诲听聽to ban such agreements. California legislature is working to also approve limits on the agreements.
鈥楽torm troopers鈥�
The Judicial Proceedings Committee spent about 70 minutes on the face-covering legislation sponsored by Sen. Malcolm Augustine (D-Prince George鈥檚) before voting 7-4, with James joining the three Republicans, to move the bill to the full Senate.
聽would prohibit face coverings on law enforcement officials working in the state, including ICE agents who are typically masked. The bill would ban items such as a balaclava, ski mask or neck gaiter for officers on duty. Exceptions would be made for officers 鈥渁ctively engaged in an undercover operation,鈥� someone wearing a motorcycle helmet, a garment worn for religious purposes or when health-related matters are involved.
The committee approved a couple of amendments, to require that the Maryland Police Training and Standards Commission develop a uniform policy prohibiting face coverings, versus a model policy. Violations would now be civil offenses, not criminal ones, and the penalty would be a fine up to $1,500 instead of up to $2,000 and possible two years imprisonment.
Even with those amendments, opponents were not completely satisfied.
West said he agrees that law enforcement officers should not be wearing masks resembling 鈥渟torm troopers in Star Wars,鈥� but he said聽there could be future conflicts between state officers trying to enforce the law on federal officers doing their duties under federal law.
鈥淭he local officers are going to say, 鈥榃ell, then you are obstructing justice. I鈥檓 putting you under arrest.鈥� And the ICE officers are going to respond by saying, 鈥榊ou鈥檙e obstructing federal officers, I鈥檓 putting you under arrest,鈥欌�� West said. 鈥淓ach trying to put the other squadron under arrest. This is bad. It鈥檚 not going to end happily.鈥�
Sen. Jeff Waldstreicher (D-Montgomery), vice chair of the committee, said after the voting session that the committee 鈥渕ade a statement today that the actions of the federal government are unacceptable to our Maryland values, and we as a legislature have a duty to respond. The committee had a legitimate debate, both on the underlying policies and the constitutionality of those policies, and we sent it to the floor of the Senate to continue that conversation.鈥�
Ferguson said both measures could be debated on the Senate floor as early as Thursday.
287(g) in the House
About two hours before the Senate committee鈥檚 vote on its 287(g) bill, the House Judiciary Committee held a hearing on聽聽sponsored by Del. Nicole Williams (D-Prince George鈥檚).
Williams said ICE isn鈥檛 providing public safety in communities, even in those Maryland jurisdictions that have signed on to them.
One day after Wicomico County Executive Julie Giordano (R) testified against the Senate version of the bill last week, she announced on聽聽Friday that the county signed a 287(g) agreement, the ninth in Maryland to do so.
鈥淥fficials who signed these agreements claim that there are means of enhancing public safety, but that鈥檚 false,鈥� Williams said. 鈥淭hese agreements drain taxpayer dollars from the real work of local law enforcement, and while ICE does provide training equipment and some oversight, it offers no reimbursement for the staff and overtime required by these additional responsibilities.鈥�
Del. Lauren Arikan (R-Harford), whose county has the state鈥檚 second-longest 287(g) agreement, asked Williams if she鈥檚 prepared to push a bill to have President Donald Trump (R) send ICE teams to the state to replace the eliminated 287(g) agreements.
鈥淭here will be blood on the hands of people that move this when folks die, because there鈥檚 no longer a jail model in place. So are you ready to do that?鈥� Arikan said.
鈥淔irst of all, ICE shouldn鈥檛 be randomly engaging in shooting individuals,鈥� said Williams, who summarized there have been federal agents and ICE activity in her legislative district where there鈥檚 no 287(g) in place.
Del. Susan McComas (R-Harford) said it should be up to individual jurisdictions whether they want ICE or not.
鈥淭hat鈥檚 the fair way to do this,鈥� she said. 鈥淚f the community wants ICE, then let them have it.鈥�
When Del. Nino Mangione (R-Baltimore County) asked why a legal immigrant be worried about immigration enforcement, several people in the audience laughed.
鈥淩eally? I would say basically every news story for the past 12 months would make the case for why legal immigrants, undocumented immigrants would be worried about interacting with ICE,鈥� Comptroller Brooke Lierman (D) said. 鈥淢any people are under threat by ICE right now. I think that legal, documented immigrants also have a reasonable fear of interacting with Immigration and Customs Enforcement.鈥�
