Monday, April 3, 2017
Associated Press

Maryland supporters of a bill they say would increase trust between immigrants and local law enforcement pushed to move the measure out of a Senate committee on Monday, as opponents underscored their reasons for trying to stop it.

Frederick County Sheriff Chuck Jenkins and Harford County Sheriff Jeffrey Gahler came to Annapolis to outline the reasons they oppose the bill. They say the measure will impede local jails from holding people on immigration detainers and make the state "a magnet" for people in the country illegally with criminal records.

Frederick and Harford counties would be exempt from the legislation, because the two counties are participating in the federal government's 287 (g) program.

Under the program, the Department of Homeland Security trains local law enforcement to perform the work of federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents. Still, Jenkins and Gahler said they are concerned the bill could be changed in the session's last days.

"Any version of this bill is a bad bill," Jenkins said.

But lawmakers who support the bill say it would prevent law enforcement from detaining people solely to ask about their immigration status. They also say it would stop jails from holding arrestees for 48 hours longer than when they normally would be released without probable cause, simply because federal immigration officials make the request.

Sen. Susan Lee, a Montgomery County Democrat who is on the Senate Judicial Proceedings Committee where the bill has been stuck in recent days, said she's confident enough people on the committee want to move the measure forward.

"We still have some days left in session. I think there's still a chance for passage," Lee said.

The session is scheduled to end April 10.

Senate President Thomas V. Mike Miller has said the bill won't pass the Senate in the form it passed the House. While the Calvert County Democrat has expressed support for some of the bill's provisions, he has said "Maryland is not going to become a sanctuary state."

The term "sanctuary" in the immigration debate is loosely defined but generally means local officials don't cooperate with federal authorities on immigration matters such as requests that local jails hold a suspect while authorities investigate their immigration status. The issue has set off wide debate around the country.

The legislation in Maryland is being considered at a time when a rape case that allegedly happened in the bathroom of a Maryland high school has received national attention after the White House called it an example of why President Donald Trump wants to crack down on illegal immigration. Officials say one of the suspects charged in the case came to the U.S. from Guatemala illegally.

http://www.wbal.com/article/230547/3...on-in-maryland