Legislative Update and Rumor Control: Clarification on Senate Committee Vote Regarding ICE Agreements

State of Maryland - Reports circulating earlier today regarding recent legislative activity involving Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) are somewhat misleading and not true. 

Therefore, we wanted to take a few minutes to clarify and inform the community of some facts, and misinformation that is out there. This is more of rumor control and to stop the spread of misinformation than anything.

Messages received throughout the afternoon suggested that the Senate had passed a bill to ban ICE operations in the State of Maryland. This information is incorrect.

The actual legislative action took place yesterday within the Senate Judicial Proceedings Committee. The committee voted 8-3 to pass a bill focused on specific administrative agreements.

This legislation is designed to end agreements between ICE and local jurisdictions within the State of Maryland. It does not stop ICE from being here in the State of Maryland, as many want to believe.

Statements regarding the vote clarified that the legislation does not restrict ICE agents from performing their federal duties. Instead, the bill alters the procedures for local correctional institutions.

The new regulations would prevent these local facilities from holding individuals for an extra period of time, 48-hours, to facilitate a transfer to ICE custody.

Concerns have been raised regarding the potential impact of this change on community safety. The statement noted that the restrictions apply specifically to the release of individuals from local custody.

Critics of the bill indicate this could result in the release of individuals with significant criminal histories, including murder, first-degree assault, and rape, back into local neighborhoods.