A bill that would prohibit law enforcement from inquiring about immigration status and end police cooperation with ICE in Maryland drew emotional testimony from immigrants, advocacy groups and lawmakers on Wednesday.
Referred to as the Trust Act by some, SB0088 and HB0304 would end the federal 287(g) Criminal Alien Program in participating jurisdictions, prevent law enforcement from asking about immigration status and protect immigrants from ICE in sensitive locations, such as schools, courthouses and hospitals.
The 287(g) Criminal Alien Program allows ICE to enter into agreements with state and local law enforcement to deputize officers as federal immigration agents.
This bill, which would end those agreements in Maryland, is extremely important to build trust between the police and community. Immigrants shouldn鈥檛 be afraid to report a crime, said Del. Wanika Fisher, D-Prince George鈥檚, a sponsor of the bill.
鈥淲hen one community doesn鈥檛 feel safe with law enforcement and participating, it affects everyone,鈥� Fisher said.
Three Maryland jurisdictions participate in the 287(g) program: Cecil, Frederick and Harford counties.
These jurisdictions argue that this bill poses a threat to public safety. Asking for someone鈥檚 location of birth is a routine part of processing information, Harford County Sheriff Jeffrey Gahler, R, said.
鈥淧art of public safety is identifying who you鈥檙e bringing into custody and whether other jurisdictions want them and what kind of criminal history they have,鈥� Gahler said in an interview with Capital News Service.
There鈥檚 no reason law enforcement officers shouldn鈥檛 be allowed to notify ICE if someone is here illegally, Gahler said.
People call it the Trust Act for a reason, said Cathryn Paul, research and policy analyst at CASA, the largest immigrant services and advocacy organization in Maryland. Immigrant families do not trust the police or the government, Paul said.
The 287(g) program allows local officers to turn into ICE agents when they have minimal training, almost no oversight or accountability and many aren鈥檛 bilingual, Paul said.
鈥淭he police should not be playing ICE. The police should not be acting as ICE agents in any way,鈥� Paul said.
Policies like this will lower crime rates because it establishes trust and encourages immigrants to report crimes, Paul said. Immigrants have been keeping the country afloat during the pandemic; lawmakers must take action to support them, Paul said.
However, Richard Jurgena, a retired Navy officer and resident of Darnestown, Maryland, said in his written testimony last year that the Constitution is the law of the land. He pointed to the bill鈥檚 fiscal and policy note under 鈥淐urrent Law鈥� that begins with 鈥淲hile immigration is controlled by federal law,鈥� to prove that immigration cannot be separated from the federal government.
The law is the law, those opposed to the bill have said.
Much of the testimony, however, argued that undocumented immigrants are anything but criminals.
Maria Perez was placed in handcuffs in Prince George鈥檚 County in May of 2018 after she was stopped for speeding by police and handed over to an immigration agent, treated like she had committed a criminal act, she said. She testified in Spanish, with her written testimony in English on the screen.
On March 18, Perez has a court date, which will determine whether she can stay in this country with her children or would be deported back to El Salvador where she fled from 16 years ago.
A 15-year-old boy, Yovani Isaula, testified that his mother, Nora Argueta, was deported after a Maryland state trooper detained her on the highway when her car broke down on a highway in Baltimore in January of 2019.
Isaula was confused about what was happening because he thought police officers were there to help, but rather they detained his mother and he had to learn how to take care of himself, he said.
鈥淲e need to repair the relationship between the community and the police because so many deportations caused by the police have caused us to lose our trust in them,鈥� Perez said.
