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Maryland Attorney General Anthony Brown issued guidance to local police departments Wednesday reminding them that they are still bound by state law when working with federal agencies, and are limited in what they can do in such partnerships.
The 11-page document lists what local police “must do, may do and must not do” in a range of interactions with federal authorities, from simple backup to formal joint task force agreements. But it includes specific language on what local officers can and can’t do when it comes to immigration enforcement.
Among other limits, the guidance says Maryland officers may not ask a suspect’s immigration status, or extend a suspect’s detention to determine their immigration status; must identify themselves by name and badge number, and cite a reason when making a traffic or other stop; and must adhere to state use of force standards, and not treat peaceful protestors or demonstrators as suspects, among other rules.
It pointedly says that Maryland officers “may not enforce civil immigration laws or assist federal agents in enforcing such laws.”
“Maryland’s law enforcement officers are governed by Maryland law and the communities they serve, regardless of shifting federal priorities,” Attorney General Anthony Brown (D) said in a statement. “We are providing this guidance to help our officers ensure they are complying with applicable State standards for use of force, civil rights protections, and police accountability when they are working with federal agents who may not be bound to the same requirements.”
The guidelines come as an increasing number of law enforcement agencies in Maryland are cooperating with Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers under various 287(g) agreements, which allow ICE to delegate certain immigration enforcement abilities to state and local law enforcement officials. Maryland agencies are mostly restricted to the jail-based model of the agreement, where local jails can execute administrative immigration warrants on people already in their custody.
As of this summer, eight Maryland counties had signed 287(g) agreements to work with ICE, up from five just a year before.
The memo also comes as immigration arrests are surging under the Trump administration’s promised deportation push. ICE arrests in the state have gone from 3.1 per day in 2023 to 3.7 per day in 2024, before jumping to 9.8 per day this year, according to the Deportation Data Project.
The wave of apprehensions have put immigrant communities on edge, particularly since many of the stops are made by masked officers in unmarked vehicles who may not identify themselves or being wearing identifying information — all practices prohibited for Maryland officers, Brown’s memo said.
The attorney general’s guidance released Wednesday notes a provision in state law that prohibits civil immigration enforcement and for Maryland officers to perform “the functions of an immigration officer.” Other provisions for local police outlined Wednesday by the attorney general’s office include:
- Officers must properly use body-worn cameras in accordance with state law and agency policy, identify themselves when making stops, and comply with other key State-law requirements that do not govern federal agents;
- They should not directly participate in federal search practices that violate state standards, including failure to comply with documentation requirements; and
- Maryland agencies should consider providing training to officers based on the principles documented in the guidance.
The release of the document also comes as President Donald Trump (R) has aggressively sought to expand federal involvement in local police enforcement. He has moved to deploy National Guard troops in Democratic-led cities such as Chicago, Los Angeles and Portland, Oregon, and federalized control of the Washington, D.C., police force this summer and sent in D.C. guard members as well as guard units from other states.
Trump claims military force is needed to respond to out-of-control crime scenes that state and local officials insist are simply untrue. He has also said a military presence is needed to protect federal facilities from attack or, in the case of Portland, to put down a rebellion. A U.S. District Court judge who blocked the Portland deployment wrote that protests “in Portland did not constitute a rebellion and did not pose a danger of rebellion,” and that the president’s claims about the situation in the city were “simply untethered to the facts.”
Brown’s office has been active, with attorneys general in other Democratic-led state, in challenging Trump administration policies in court, including its recent efforts to deploy troops to U.S. cities. The Maryland attorney general’s office has either led or joined in 101 lawsuits or legal briefs against administration actions since Trump returned to office on Jan. 20.
Maryland supporters of local police cooperation with ICE on immigration efforts either did not respond to requests Wednesday for comment on Brown’s guidance memo for local police, or said they had not seen the document and would not comment.
But Del. Nicole Williams (D-Prince George’s), who sponsored an unsuccessful bill in the last legislative session that would have prohibited local police from entering into 287(g) agreements, was able to skim through the memo and said it was “a good reminder” for Maryland agencies.
“This is what our state law is in regards to all these various subject areas,” she said. “It is not stating you can’t cooperate with federal law enforcement. It’s just a little reminder of some of our provisions in our state law.”
