Maryland Democrats pushed legislation this week to prevent local law enforcement officials from cooperating with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officials in the state. The legislation comes as the Department of Homeland Security is moving forward with a new processing facility in Baltimore.
In a Wednesday press release, Maryland’s Washington County confirmed that it received a letter from the Department of Homeland Security earlier this month that ICE was “analyzing the potential purchase” of a warehouse to be used as the “new ICE Baltimore Processing Facility.”
“Elements of the project mentioned in the letter include, ‘construction of holding and processing spaces, office space, public-facing visitor space and installation of amenities, such as cafeterias, bathrooms, and health care spaces,'” the press release stated. “Proposed site improvements mentioned in the letter include, but are not limited to, ‘installing, upgrading, or rehabilitating existing parking areas, fencing, site lighting, landscaping, drainage/stormwater, recreation areas and cameras. Tentage and guard shacks may also be installed.'”
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Washington County confirmed that the Department of Homeland Security’s letter was sent due to federal law requiring the department to notify local governments regarding the potential impact to historic property caused by new projects. The Daily Caller reported that the new ICE facility in Maryland appears to be an attempt by President Donald Trump’s administration to avoid issues caused by the state’s Dignity Not Detention Act, which prevents Maryland from engaging in new contracts that allow ICE to use state or local facilities to conduct “immigration-related detention.”
According to Maryland Matters, Maryland Democrats quickly moved to restrict ICE’s ability to carry out operations in the state as the Maryland State Senate Judicial Proceedings Committee approved legislation this week to prohibit cooperation between federal immigration officials and local law enforcement officials. The outlet noted that the House Judiciary Committee also added an emergency amendment to the bill in an effort to make the legislation take effect immediately after it is signed by the governor instead of taking effect in June.
Addressing her hopes for the Maryland State Senate to pass a similar amendment to make the bill take effect sooner, Democrat Del. Nicole Williams, the sponsor of the bill in the Maryland House of Delegates, said, “It’s exciting to have our support from our friends across the street. This bill is a long time coming.”
“We’ll see if they do an amendment on the floor,” Williams added. “We believe the emergency measure is imperative, just really kind of everything we’re seeing [and] going on across the country. This is a necessity.”
