Clarence Lam on the Maryland Trust Act

This is a summary of Maryland Delegate Clarence Lam’s remarks at the March 26 Indivisible HoCo town hall meeting on immigration. Lam is a Democrat who represents District 12 in the Maryland House of Delegates.

The Maryland Law Enforcement and Governmental Trust Act, commonly referred to as the Trust Act or the Maryland Trust Act, is a bill currently before the Maryland State Senate. Designed to protect immigrant populations in Maryland, the Trust Act in general terms would bar police statewide from stopping, arresting, or detaining individuals to check for immigration violations.

As Lam, a cosponsor of the bill, explained, it has four major provisions:

• Databases - No state or local resources could go to creating a database to track undocumented immigrants in Maryland.
• Profiling - No law enforcement official could ask about the immigration status or citizenship of a person stopped and questioned.
• Detainment - Local law enforcement authorities would be prohibited from detaining people at the request of ICE (U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement) unless ICE presents a judicial warrant. This means that a judge, in order to issue the warrant, has found probable cause that a crime has been committed. A simple request from an ICE employee would not be sufficient to detain a person in jail.
• Public places - The Maryland Attorney General would issue guidelines on public schools, hospitals, and courthouses. These are all venues where ICE agents have seized undocumented immigrants.

The exception for 287(g) - this is an ICE program under which local law enforcement may enter into cooperative agreements to aid ICE. For example, in Frederick County, the sheriff’s office has a 287(g) agreement in effect with ICE. Under that agreement all persons detained in the Frederick County jail must answer a questionnaire that includes these questions:

• What country were you born in?
• What country are you a citizen or national of?

According to a recent Baltimore Sun article, “the answers to those can trigger a process unique in Maryland to Frederick County. Correctional officers trained by the federal government open an investigation into whether the arrestee is in the country illegally. If so, the officer alerts an on-site federal ICE agent, who can begin immigration proceedings against them.”

Frederick County and Harford County have existing 287(g) agreements. Anne Arundel County has expressed interest in signing such an agreement. An amendment to the Maryland Trust Act would allow counties to enter into 287(g) agreements.

From a local perspective, Lam said, there are two disadvantages to these agreements:

1. Local jurisdictions are liable if there are law suits as a result of a person being held.
2. No federal funds accompany 287(g). All costs are paid by local taxes.

Guy Guzzone, the State Senate Democrats’ majority whip, described the bill’s prospects as “an uphill battle” at the Indivisible town hall. It is now under consideration by the State Senate’s Judiciary Committee. Passage depends on its moving out of committee and passing a vote in the Senate before the legislative session ends April 10.

Republican Governor Larry Hogan has vowed to veto the bill. Lam said the bill, which would be the first in the nation at the state level, passed with 83 votes in the House of Delegates, two short of the number to overcome a veto.

Indivisible.org Howard County sponsored the event, attended by several hundred. Started in January 2017, Indivisible HoCo is part of a national movement to mobilize citizens to resist the policies of the Donald Trump administration.