The Baltimore City Council passed a bill Monday barring city cooperation with federal immigration enforcement, fast-tracking the legislation in response to a federal deportation surge.
The bill would bar Baltimore Police from cooperating with federal enforcement actions, ban the city from collecting and sharing data related to immigration status, and restrict access by immigration agents to city buildings. The vote was unanimous — with one member absent — and Democratic Mayor Brandon Scott has signaled he will sign the legislation.
The bill mirrors the mayor’s existing executive orders barring cooperation with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. However, members of the council said it was important to cement the restrictions into city law.
“We are not going to leave our neighbors to be harassed and discriminated against by a rogue ICE which has no respect for cities, no respect for people, no respect for Baltimore,” said Council President Zeke Cohen, a Democrat.
The urgent push on the legislation — the council took all three necessary votes Monday — comes in the midst of a growing federal deportation campaign that has targeted predominantly Democratic cities and states.
ICE has shown signs of ramping up for increased enforcement in Maryland. Federal officials have made plans to convert a warehouse in Washington County into an immigration processing and detention center that could house as many as 1,500 detainees.
The council is also considering legislation that would ban private detention centers from being built in the city. On Monday, Councilman Mark Conway introduced another bill that would require city retirement funds to divest from private detention companies. The council did not vote on either measure Monday.
The legislation passed by the council would bar ICE from any portions of city buildings that are not accessible to the public unless required by federal or state law. The legislation would also make it illegal for city officials to ask someone to disclose their immigration status unless required by law, or to use data on immigration status to assist with immigration enforcement.
The bill would also bar police from assisting with immigration enforcement unless officials have a judicial warrant. When interacting with ICE, police would be instructed to record interactions on body-worn cameras and to request identification from ICE officers.
The legislation initially called for police officers to ask immigration officials to remove their masks, but an amendment to the bill cut that provision. Council members said the change was needed to make the legislation enforceable and consistent with Baltimore Police policy.
Another amendment added to the legislation Monday bans immigration officials from using space owned, leased or operated by the city for enforcement actions without a valid permit. The amendment includes parks and recreation facilities.
Conway, sponsor of the final amendment, acknowledged the council’s limitations on immigration issues. But the topic is “a matter of humanity,” he said.
“We are not the federal government. We are just the City Council,” said Conway, a Democrat who represents North Baltimore neighborhoods. “But what we can do is ensure that the city and all of our resources do not go to aiding, abetting, assisting in any way, shape or form activity that we’re seeing out of ICE.”




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