The Justice Department sued Maryland over the state’s sanctuary policies, alleging the state has interfered with immigration enforcement and allowed criminal illegal aliens to roam free.
“When sanctuary jurisdictions enact laws to shield illegal aliens from federal law enforcement, it is not merely federal law that is violated, but the voices of everyday American voters are silenced,” Associate Attorney General Stanley E. Woodward Jr. said in a statement Thursday.
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Woodward added that “this department will never stand for such lawless action from blue state leaders.”
In May, Maryland enacted the Community Trust Act, which prevents local law enforcement from detaining or prolonging the detention of an individual for immigration enforcement purposes. The law also restricts the ability of local agencies to provide information to federal immigration authorities.
“These provisions intentionally obstruct the sharing of information and rendering of other assistance envisioned by Congress, thereby impairing federal detention of removable aliens, including dangerous criminals, as required by federal law,” the DOJ complaint, filed in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Maryland, states.
It says Maryland’s refusal to cooperate with federal immigration authorities has had negative consequences, with state and local officials refusing to facilitate the transfer of illegal aliens to federal custody even when presented with a routine detainer.
“By directing local employees to refuse to transfer such aliens to federal officials in a secure environment, the Community Trust Act has the natural and foreseeable result of releasing such aliens onto the streets, where they all too often reoffend and commit serious crimes,” the complaint adds.
A spokesperson for Gov. Wes Moore said that Maryland is not a sanctuary state, and the Community Trust Act does not completely prohibit law enforcement from coordinating with federal immigration enforcement.
“While we cannot comment on active litigation, Governor Moore has been clear: Maryland will work with the federal government when that coordination makes our people safer—but we will not let [President] Donald Trump’s untrained, unqualified, and unaccountable [Immigration and Customs Enforcement] agents deputize our law enforcement officers to do immigration work,” spokesperson Rhyan Lake told the Daily Signal.
“While Trump’s ICE has ripped mothers out of cars and detained five-year-olds, Maryland’s law allows our law enforcement to continue working with federal officers to get violent offenders off our streets, remain focused on the work that has helped drive historic reductions in violent crime, and protect fundamental civil rights,” Lake added. “Maryland will always protect constitutional rights and give law enforcement the tools they need to keep people safe.”
The Daily Signal contacted the office of state Attorney General Anthony Brown. The office did not respond by publication time.
The Justice Department has filed 20 other lawsuits against cities and states with sanctuary policies, including Colorado, Connecticut, Illinois, and New York.
Sanctuary policies vary by jurisdiction but generally state that state or local law enforcement cannot assist federal immigration officers, such as Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents, in detaining or transferring illegal aliens.
The complaint against Maryland contends the state’s policy seeks to “thwart the constitutional obligation of the president of the United States to take care that the immigration laws enacted by Congress are enforced.”
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This article was originally published at the Daily Signal. Photo Credit: Immigration and Customs Enforcement/Flickr.
