Moore Signs Bills Banning Agreements Between Local Police, Federal Immigration Agencies

By William J. Ford, Maryland Matters

February 18, 2026

Gov. Wes Moore (D) signed emergency legislation Tuesday banning 287(g) agreements between local police agencies and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, ending years of effort by immigration advocates who say local police should not be doing the work of federal agents.

Senate Bill 245 and House Bill 444 take effect immediately, and give the nine Maryland counties 90 days to end their agreements with the feds. But the fight may not be over yet, as sheriffs in several of those counties said they are considering going to court to challenge the law that they said will lead to more, not less, immigration chaos in the state.

The current 287(g) agreements in the state

Darren Popkin, executive director of the Maryland Sheriffs’ Association, said in a text message Tuesday that the “Chiefs and Sheriffs appreciate the communication from Governor Moore regarding the topic of immigration.”

During an interview Monday, Popkin said that all agreements must end in the next 90 days. However, he said the sheriff departments are “looking at” possible legal action.

Sheriffs who visited Annapolis last month said the 287(g) agreements they have do not put their deputies on the street to enforce immigration law, but only call for local jails to hold undocumented migrants an extra 48 hours for pickup by ICE. The situation on the ground in Maryland is nothing like the round-ups, confrontations and shootings in Minnesota they said, in part because of the controlled jailhouse transfers in Maryland.

“The only way immigration enforcement can continue is if ICE increases their resources here in Maryland,” said Darren Popkin, executive director of the Maryland Sheriffs’ Association, on Tuesday. “Then it becomes a very open, public enforcement operation, versus in a safe secure area in the detention facilities.”

Del. Nicole Williams (D-Prince George’s), lead sponsor of HB444, is congratulated by Gov. Wes Moore (D) after he signed the bill banning 287(g) agreements. (Photo by William J. Ford/Maryland Matters)

During an interview on Monday, Popkin said the sheriffs are “looking at” possible legal action. The nine counties that currently have 287(g) agreements are Allegany, Carroll, Cecil, Frederick, Harford, Garrett, St. Mary’s, Washington and Wicomico.

But Moore, Democratic leaders and immigrant and criminal justice advocates have said the federal agency under the Trump administration has caused harm, frustration and fear in communities. In addition, they say ICE agents have detained people with no criminal history.

“What this bill does is to draw a very clear line: It says in Maryland, we defend constitutional rights and we defend constitutional policing that we defend and we support the trained law enforcement in our state,” Moore said at bill signing ceremony. “We will not allow them to be deputized by agencies that do not hold the same standards.”

Along with the signing, Moore issued a letter to executive branch and law enforcement agencies stressing the need for “constitutional policing” that follows core principles such as fairness and equity, appropriate law enforcement training and prioritizing resources. The letter also said state and local police resources “should be focused on protecting Marylanders from public safety threats, including through coordination with the federal government on joint task forces and the removal of violent offenders … not the administrative enforcement of civil status against law-abiding non-citizens.”

Popkin said in a text message Tuesday that the “Chiefs and Sheriffs appreciate the communication from Governor Moore regarding the topic of immigration.”

Sen. William C. Smith Jr. (D-Montgomery), chair of the Judicial Proceedings Committee and sponsor of SB525, highlighted the fact that three of the state’s top leaders come from immigrant families: Moore with a Jamaican mother; House Speaker Joseline Peña-Melnyk (D-Prince George’s and Anne Arundel), who is a native of the Dominican Republic; and Lt. Gov. Aruna Miller (D), who was born in India.

“They occupy the highest offices in the state, and for us to deliver on our promise to protect everyone in Maryland is really poignant and amazing,” Smith said after the bill-signing. “I think the symbology of this is that we saw what was happening at the federal level, we understood that we needed to move quickly and decisively to protect Marylanders and to protect our Maryland values.”

But Republican lawmakers expressed disappointment with their Democratic colleagues, especially with the bill being rushed through less than a month into the 90-day General Assembly session.

Liliana Ramirez, 10, talks about her father during a press conference Tuesday at Lawyers Mall in (Photo by William J. Ford/Maryland Matters)

The Democratic majority made the bills a top priority amid the national debate over to the aggressive immigration enforcement tactics adopted by the Trump administration. Public backlash against ICE and federal agents occurred in cities like Los Angeles, Chicago and Minneapolis, where two American citizens in Renee Good and Alez Pretti were fatally shot last month by federal agents.

“I’m pretty appalled that the first policy issue that the Democrats are excited about is allowing illegal criminals who are actually hurting, raping, murdering people in our state…” said Del. Lauren Arikan (R-Harford), whose county has the second-longest-running 287(g) agreement in the state. “I think it’s pretty disgusting that this is what the Democrats are focusing on when people can’t even pay their electric bills right now.”

But advocates celebrated the passage of the bills. They included Liliana Ramirez, who took the morning away from school to stand in the chilly air outside the State House before the bill signing to tell her story to cameras and microphones. Liliana, 10, of Prince George’s County, said ICE agents took her father away on Dec. 30 in Frederick, before he began work at a construction job.

“This bill won’t bring my dad home, but it means that other kids like me and other families won’t have to go through what my family went through, and that gives me hope,” Liliana, whose family is from El Salvador, said while standing alongside a few dozen members of CASA and state legislators.