MD - Revised immigration Trust Act moves forward in House
March 20, 2017
Pamela Wood
The House of Delegates watered down a bill aimed at curtailing how much Maryland law enforcement officials can cooperate with federal immigration authorities.
The bill, introduced as the Maryland Law Enforcement and Trust Act, would have halted programs in which local jails screen arrestees for immigration violations. The revised bill allows the jail programs to continue, but limits the jails to holding people for immigration reasons only if a judge signs off on a warrant.
Frederick County's jail participates in the program, known as 287(g) for the section of federal law that authorizes it. Harford County is preparing to launch a program, and Anne Arundel County has applied to start one.
"It is a compromise," said Del. Marice Morales, a Montgomery County Democrat who sponsored the bill in hopes of ending the jail programs. "I'm a little disappointed, but you can't get everything."
The revised bill also makes it clear that other local and state officials, including police officers and sheriff's deputies, cannot ask people about their immigration or citizenship status, and they cannot collect data solely for the purpose of gathering information on immigration, citizenship or nationality.
The bill passed the House by a 83-55 vote Monday. It now moves to the state Senate, which has not yet acted on a version of the bill.
Hogan says he'll veto the bill.
"The Maryland House of Delegates tonight passed an outrageously irresponsible bill that will make Maryland a sanctuary state and endanger our citizens. This legislation would interfere with our state and local law enforcement's ability to cooperate with federal law enforcement authorities. I will veto this dangerously misguided legislation the moment that it reaches my desk."
http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/mar...320-story.html
Washington County lawmakers stand against Md. 'sanctuary' bill
Tamela Baker
Mar 23, 2017 Updated 1 hr ago
ANNAPOLIS — Every Washington County delegate voted against it, but a bill to curb Maryland authorities from detaining immigrants to ask about their status is awaiting a hearing before a Senate panel after clearing the House of Delegates this week.
Gov. Larry Hogan has called the bill "outrageously irresponsible" and said he will veto it if it reaches his desk.
If the bill clears the Senate Judicial Proceedings Committee and comes before the full Senate, Sen. Andrew Serafini, R-Washington, said he will vote against it.
The bill "is bad legislation that ties the hands of law enforcement to enforce our country’s laws. It is important that law enforcement has the ability to take appropriate action using their training and professional judgment to protect our communities," Serafini said.
"Additionally, it is wrong for the state to tell local law enforcement which federal laws the General Assembly feels should not apply in Maryland," Serafini said. "The federal government sets immigration policy. Maryland should not be able to choose to ignore federal law."
Serafini said a number of constituents have contacted him about the bill.
"As their senator, I will not vote for ‘sanctuary state’ legislation that tells law enforcement to disregard criminal activity, including violations of federal immigration law," he said
The measure "started off as a much broader bill," said Del. Brett Wilson, R-Washington.
But Wilson said he participated in a work group in the House Judiciary Committee that reduced its restrictions.
"It certainly started off as what most of us would consider a pure sanctuary bill," he said, which would have barred state, county and municipal police "from really cooperating in any way with the federal government unless they have a judicial warrant."
Removed from the bill were provisions affecting correctional facilities, such as Frederick County's cooperation with federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement that allows that jurisdiction's sheriff's office to begin deportation proceedings against undocumented immigrants who commit crimes there, Wilson said.
"But a lot of the other provisions stayed in," he said.
For example, a law-enforcement officer running a background check after a routine traffic stop couldn't detain the driver or even notify federal authorities if that person were determined to be in the country illegally.
Wilson voted against the bill despite its revisions.
"There's no reason that state law-enforcement officials should not cooperate with federal law-enforcement agents to capture criminals," said Del. William Wivell, R-Washington.
Wivell said interagency cooperation had stopped crime and intercepted terrorists.
And he noted that Maryland could lose up to $40 million in federal funds, if the president makes good on his threat to withhold funding in certain programs from jurisdictions with "sanctuary" policies for undocumented immigrants.
"I just think it's a bad bill, and it puts Marylanders at risk," Wivell said.
Del. Mike McKay, R-Washington/Allegany, pointed out that his opposition to the bill was not about immigrants.
"When people try to make it about just immigrants and not illegal immigrants … actually it is not," he said.
"It protects criminals who come to the state of Maryland from ICE detainers," said Del. Neil Parrott, who also opposed the bill.
He said that the legislation would allow ICE to get a local judge to order detention, but "they know that's not gonna be able to happen" because of the time that process takes.
"This bill is completely designed to allow illegal aliens, who should be on detainer, not to be held — to be released," Parrott said.
The bill passed shortly after two teens, at least one of whom is an illegal immigrant, were accused of raping a 14-year-old girl at Rockville High School, McKay's alma mater.
While some have held the incident up as a reason to oppose the bill, Wilson said the measure, "I don't believe, would have affected that situation. It really was the prior administration's policies that allowed that to happen because both of those young men … were detained at the border when they illegally entered" but were released.
"To the extent that the national policy changes at the border, at the point of entry, that could have a significant effect on these types of events," he said.
Each of the delegates had already decided to vote against the measure before they heard about the alleged rape.
But "we don't know all the details in the case. So that did not affect my vote; my stance was already there. At the end of the day, you're not supposed to be here. You've broken our law. You're not supposed to be here," McKay said.
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