Maryland Governor Wes Moore Rejects Statewide Policy to Promote Immigration Cooperation
FAIR Take | July 2024
In a recent interview, responding to the murder of Rachel Morin, Governor Wes Moore rejected the idea of a statewide policy for local jurisdictions to cooperate with the federal government. In fact, Governor Moore, displaying complete ignorance of both federal and state law, claimed that Maryland cannot establish a statewide policy that dictates how the state interacts with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) because “it’s a federal agency.”
Pressed by Baltimore Sun co-owner Armstrong Williams on why he wouldn’t pass a statewide ICE policy, Gov. Moore quipped, “I’m telling you, the idea that somehow the state has an ICE policy — there’s nowhere that a state has an ICE policy, and frankly, for anyone who’s talking about what the state should do, I tell people they’re either politically motivated or just deeply uninformed.”
Unfortunately, it appears that Governor Moore is the one who is deeply uninformed. The section of federal law that authorizes local jurisdictions to cooperate in the enforcement of immigration laws (8 USC 1357(g)) expressly permits states to enter into cooperation agreements with ICE in addition to local jurisdictions. Thus, the Governor of Maryland or the Maryland Legislature could indeed adopt policies or legislation to require that every local jurisdiction cooperate with ICE – if they wanted to.
Moreover, contrary to the Governor’s statements, Maryland has enacted statewide laws on immigration In 2021, the Maryland legislature overrode then-Governor Larry Hogan’s veto of The Dignity Not Detention Act (HB16), which bans all private detention facilities and bars local law enforcement from inquiring about an individual’s immigration status, detaining or extending their detention, or transferring them to federal immigration authorities. Thus, the state of Maryland has, in fact, set an immigration policy—one that condones and encourages illegal immigration.
While Gov. Moore stated that Maryland ensures local jurisdictions comply with federal law, the truth is that multiple localities refuse to honor ICE detainers. Consequently, ICE agents are unable to take custody of detained individuals upon arrest, nor are they informed of the release of suspected illegal aliens. Governor Moore has done nothing to stop this practice.
Discussing the tragic death of Rachel Morin, Gov. Moore further said, “We don’t tolerate violence in our state…You break the law in Maryland, there will be accountability, there will be consequences.” Despite this assertion, Gov. Moore signed the Probation Before Judgement Act (HB 193) into law in May of 2023. This law allows criminal aliens to enter into a probation agreement without pleading guilty or admitting any of the facts underlying the crime, which allows the court to withhold a formal conviction. According to a member of the Maryland Republican Central Committee, “They’re trying to create a new fiction in the law where you committed a crime, you were found guilty, you were basically put on probation, and they’re then going to pretend it didn’t happen so you don’t get deported.”
The truth is, despite his claims, Gov. Moore has the authority to act. Several states have passed comprehensive legislation requiring local jurisdictions to collaborate with ICE to protect the public’s safety. Notably, Florida, Iowa, and Texas implemented anti-sanctuary laws in 2019, 2018, and 2017, respectively. Tennessee, in 2018, enacted laws that include provisions to withhold state funds from jurisdictions that fail to comply with federal immigration policies. These initiatives reflect a broader national trend of implementing laws aimed at discouraging illegal immigration.
Recently, more than a dozen lawmakers sent a letter to Gov. Moore, seeking clarification on the state’s sanctuary status and ICE cooperation trends, stating, “We understand that the immigration system is broken, but at a minimum, we have a responsibility to keep Marylanders safe now, and we need to make sure there are things in place to do just that.”
As Maryland’s governor, Moore is obligated to protect his constituents from crime, yet his words and actions suggest he thinks otherwise. The repeated passage of laws designed to condone illegal immigration negates his call to cooperate with ICE. If Gov. Moore sincerely believes his own words, he would call for the repeal of laws in Maryland that directly contradict his claimed advocacy for local jurisdictions to cooperate with ICE. Anything less would be disingenuous.