Opinion: Immigrants Are The Winners Of This Legislative Session

Guest Commentary, Maryland Matters

May 7, 2021

Regarding the April 19 Maryland Matters analysis, “General Assembly 2021: Winners and Losers”:

There is no question that immigrant families are among those hit the hardest during the pandemic. Yet despite the challenges, immigrants showed up big this legislative session, advocating hard to achieve victories that we have not seen in Annapolis for years.

This session, the Maryland legislature voted to end state involvement in private ICE detention centers, shut down existing local detention centers, stop law enforcement from asking about citizenship status, prohibit ICE from searching through MVA data without a warrant, create a Governor’s Office of Immigrant Affairs, and extend the earned income tax credit to taxpayers with ITIN holders.

These victories were the result of over a decade of advocacy. Hundreds showed up in Annapolis to speak with legislators. Hundreds more submitted written and verbal testimony outlining their personal experience of incarceration, targeting, and harassment by the police and ICE, family separation, deportation, and so much more.

In the midst of a pandemic, we still showed up in person at the State House rallying for a better future. Not only did immigrant families play a critical role in passing the aforementioned bills, CASA members advocated for police reform, worker protection, education, tenant, and health care bills that passed this session.

For the first time in history, the Latino, Black and AAPI legislative caucuses united in an unprecedented show of unity behind these bills that ultimately pulled them to the finish line. The House led not only in moving these forward, but in directly addressing the anti-immigrant racism and xenophobia that infuses the opposition to these bills in the long public hearings. Faith leaders, leading civil rights organizations, unions and other ally organizations demanded that immigrant families be prioritized.

This legislative session was just a small example of the growing power of immigrant families and the massive movement building in Maryland to protect them. Immigrants are the winners this session.

— CATHRYN PAUL

The writer is the Research and Policy Analyst at CASA, the largest immigrant rights organization in the mid-Atlantic region.

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