Maryland House approves bill to limit local immigration enforcement News
Maryland House approves bill to limit local immigration enforcement

[JURIST] The Maryland House of Delegates [official website] approved legislation [text, PDF] on Monday to bar police statewide from checking the immigration status of individuals they arrest or from stopping an individual for the purposes of suspected immigration violations. The bill would also prevent police from detaining these individuals longer than otherwise warranted at the request of federal agents seeking to deport them. Supporters of the bill say it is needed to protect trust [Reuters report] between immigrant communities and with local law enforcement agencies. The text of the bill states:

That, in order to ensure that eligible individuals are not deterred from seeking services or engaging with State agencies, all State agencies shall review their confidentiality policies and identify any changes necessary to ensure that information collected from individuals is limited to that which is necessary to perform agency duties, does not include inquiries into immigration status unless required by federal law or necessary to make a determination of eligibility, and is not used or disclosed for any other purpose.

Both the Maryland Senate and governor would still have to approve the bill for it to become law.

Local legislation curtailing immigration enforcement is a rapidly growing trend across the country. Cities enacting these types of laws and policies have been recently called “sanctuary cities” [JURIST op-ed]. At least 39 cities, 364 counties, and four states [NYT Report] have enacted policies that limit the scope of local police and sheriff cooperation with federal immigration enforcement. Many of these policies are in response to the executive orders issued in January and March by President Donald Trump informing [JURIST report] immigration enforcement measures.

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