In a memo to Montgomery County’s state legislators, County Executive Ike Leggett stated he would not support a bill under consideration in the General Assembly that’s designed to prohibit state and local law enforcement from cooperating with federal immigration authorities.
State legislators put forth the bill as a way to try to protect undocumented immigrants in the state from President Donald Trump’s new immigration policies that expand the powers of federal agencies to detain and deport individuals in the country illegally.
Leggett, a former law professor, said Tuesday in an interview with Bethesda Beat the state bill is a symbolic measure and that state or local jurisdictions have no authority to stop the federal government from using its own resources to detain individuals.
“I think what the Trump administration is doing is very inhumane. I disagree with it totally,” Leggett said, but he added that he believes the state bill could have unintended consequences with the potential to harm the individuals legislators are trying to protect.
Leggett reiterated, as he has done several times in recent months, that the county’s longstanding policy is that local law enforcement does not aid federal immigration enforcement efforts and does not ask individuals about their immigration status. And he noted that the proposed state legislation, known as the Trust Act, may make the state a “major target” for future raids by federal immigration agents without providing help to undocumented immigrants who live here.
“I think the policy is terrible,” Leggett said. “I know there’s this clamor that we should do something, make a difference and so forth, but this doesn’t do it. I want to concentrate on how to help families and provide legal support—this doesn’t do that.”
He posited that Maryland’s opposition to Trump’s immigration policies could lead the Trump administration to steer federal agencies and contracts away from the state. He noted a Washington Post editorial published last weekend that mentioned some conservatives in Virginia were questioning whether Prince George’s County should continue to be considered for a future new FBI headquarters in light of that county’s policy of not holding prisoners at the request of federal immigration officials.
In his Feb. 16 memo to the state legislators, Leggett said he chose to oppose the proposed legislation after reading County Attorney Marc Hansen’s analysis of it.
According to Hansen’s analysis, passage of the state bill could prevent Montgomery County police officers from getting involved in federal civil enforcement actions that become violent. Other unintended consequences could include making information private that’s already public under the Maryland Public Information Act, such as release dates for certain criminal offenders.
Hansen also wrote that the state could be prevented from sharing fingerprints with federal law enforcement agencies, possibly creating a disconnect between law enforcement agencies and the FBI.
Hansen provided his analysis to the County Council, which declined to take a position on the bill.
Leggett took a similar position opposing the bill in a lengthy discussion last week on the Facebook page of Del. David Moon (D-Takoma Park). Moon suggested Leggett appease his concerns by proposing amendments to the bill.
Leggett said Tuesday he didn’t want to discuss who posted the comments from his Facebook account, but his spokesman Patrick Lacefield later confirmed the county executive wrote the comments. The post included a lengthy back-and-forth with other users who suggested Leggett was bucking Democratic priorities to oppose Trump’s policy.
Moon told Bethesda Beat on Tuesday that he believes Leggett’s concerns about the Trust Act are fair, but that some legislators were taken aback by the county executive’s early opposition to a bill that will likely be amended significantly. He noted that the proposed law could provide protections for immigrants in other jurisdictions in the state that don’t have policies like the one in Montgomery County.
“That’s one pretty glaring problem with the argument he is making,” Moon said. “The other is that he seems to suggest any legislative change at all may draw the attention of the Trump administration, ergo we shouldn’t make any legislative changes to protect our residents. That’s a tough argument to make for people who don’t live in Montgomery County.”
Leggett said Tuesday he would be interested in other jurisdictions in the state adopting the county’s policy toward immigration, but he noted that the most populous jurisdictions—Prince George’s, Howard and Baltimore counties and Baltimore City—have already implemented similar polices.
Moon said it would be appropriate for Leggett to suggest that the bill be amended so that other counties would be required to adopt a policy similar to the county’s.
“There’s a very compelling case to engage in statewide action to address the [Trump] administration’s policies,” Moon said.
On Tuesday, the Trump administration released detailed information about how it would enforce his immigration executive order. The New York Times reported Trump’s policy calls for expedited removals of undocumented immigrants and the hiring of 10,000 new immigration and customs agents to support the enforcement measures. The paper notes about 11 million people live in the country illegally.
The Trust Act was initially put forth by the immigrant advocacy group CASA, according to The Washington Post, and modeled after a similar California measure approved in 2013.
On Tuesday, CASA issued a statement condemning Trump’s immigration policy.
“These directives from President Trump are tearing fathers, mothers and their children away from each other,” the organization wrote. “They are affecting American-born children and even permanent legal residents. This goes against American values. Values that have always sought to strengthen families and promote peace.”
The state Senate version of the Trust Act is co-sponsored by Montgomery County Sens. Brian Feldman, Cheryl Kagan, Nancy King, Susan Lee, Rich Madaleno, Roger Manno and Will Smith as well as 17 senators from other jurisdictions in the state.
The House version was introduced by Del. Marice Morales of Silver Spring and is co-sponsored by county Dels. Charles Barkley, Kumar Barve, Al Carr, Bonnie Cullison, Kathleen Dumais, David Fraser-Hidalgo, Sheila Hixson, Anne Kaiser, Ariana Kelly, Marc Korman, Ben Kramer, Eric Luedtke, David Moon, Andrew Platt, Pam Queen, Kirill Reznik, Shane Robison and Jeff Waldstreicher.
The bill is expected to be the subject of significant debate as it moves through the state legislature over the next month. It also has the possibility to force Republican Gov. Larry Hogan to weigh in on Trump’s immigration policies if the legislation lands on his desk.
County Attorney Marc Hansen’s legal analysis of the Trust Act (click to expand):
