This article was written by WTOP’s news partner, The Banner Montgomery, and republished with permission. Subscribe to The Banner Montgomery here.
The Maryland Senate and House of Delegates both voted Tuesday to ban local cooperation agreements with Immigration and Customs Enforcement in response to the Trump administration’s combative deportation efforts across the country.
The bills would prohibit local governments and police departments from partnering with ICE through a program known as 287(g). Existing 287(g) agreements in Maryland allow correctional officers at local jails to ask for the immigration status of people who have been arrested, and to hold noncitizens for up to 48 hours to give ICE a chance to pick them up.
Eight counties in Maryland have 287(g) programs, and Wicomico County recently announced it would also partner with ICE.
