Governor Wes Moore signs bill blocking state and local cooperation with ICE

“We will not allow untrained, unqualified, and unaccountable ICE agents to deputize our law enforcement officers,” said Governor Moore. 

Maryland Governor Wes Moore is fighting back against the Trump administration’s aggressive immigration enforcement by signing legislation that bars state and local law enforcement from cooperating with ICE.

The order, signed on Wednesday, prohibits state and local jurisdictions from deputizing officers for federal civil immigration enforcement activity. 

“In Maryland, we defend Constitutional rights and Constitutional policing—and we will not allow untrained, unqualified, and unaccountable ICE agents to deputize our law enforcement officers,” said Gov. Moore. “This bill draws a clear line: we will continue to work with federal partners to hold violent offenders accountable, but we refuse to blur the lines between state and federal authority in ways that undermine the trust between law enforcement and the communities they serve.”

The country’s only Black governor added, “Maryland is a community of immigrants, and that’s one of our greatest strengths because this country is incomplete without each and every one of us.”

The new law in Maryland comes as the Trump administration faces public backlash for its immigration enforcement, particularly in Minneapolis, where two U.S. citizens were fatally shot by ICE agents and several immigrants and protesters have accused officers of various abuses. Last week, the administration announced that its ICE operation had come to a close and its surge of 3,000 officers in Minnesota would see a “significant drawdown.”

The controversy over Trump’s ICE activity has also resulted in a partial government shutdown, as Democrats refused to fund the U.S. Department of Homeland Security without making serious reforms for ICE officers. However, Democrats and Republicans, as well as the White House, have failed to reach a bipartisan deal.

During Wednesday’s White House press briefing, Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said of Governor Moore’s signing of the new law, “It’s another despicable action by Governor Wes Moore. Why would you prevent your state and local law enforcement from cooperating with federal law enforcement?”

The Trump spokesperson continued, “If you ask sheriffs across the country, if they want to have that level of cooperation and coordination with the federal government, of course they do. It makes their jobs easier. It keeps them out of hostile and dangerous environments.”

Leavitt characterized the new law as a “political action,” adding, “The people of Maryland are going to reap the consequences of it.”

The office of Governor Moore notes that the new anti-ICE law does not authorize the release of criminals, does not impact state policies related to immigration detainers issued by DHS, does not prevent jurisdictions from working with the federal government on “shared public safety priorities” and does not prevent state and local officials from notifying ICE about the “impending release of an individual of interest from custody or from coordinating the safe transfer of custody within constitutional limits.”

Trump and Moore have repeatedly clashed in recent weeks after the president disinvited the Maryland governor from a White House dinner for governors without explanation. Most recently, Trump accused Moore of mismanagement following a sewage spill in the Potomac River. Moore noted the spill, caused by a collapsed interceptor, occurred in neighboring Washington, D.C., on federal land.

“This one would actually be comical if it weren’t so serious,” Moore told The Associated Press. “How this has anything to do with Maryland, I have no idea. I think he just woke up and just said, I hate Maryland so I’m just going to introduce them into a conversation.”