Former Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan (R) said Thursday that local police will “ignore” a new law signed by Gov. Wes Moore (D) that bars them from cooperating with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).
“Yesterday, my state just passed a bill, Governor Moore signed an emergency bill that prohibits local law enforcement from cooperating with ICE. And, you know, all the local law enforcement is saying, ‘We’re going to ignore this because we need to work with them,'” Hogan said while speaking on Politico Live’s “Governors’ Summit.”
“So I get it, you know, crossing the line and doing the wrong thing, but, you know, when they put violent criminals in jail and ICE wants to detain them, they shouldn’t be put back on the street. So there are two sides to that argument,” he added.
Hogan’s comments follow Moore’s decision to ban the 287(g) agreement in the state, which allows ICE to deputize local law enforcement officers for immigration enforcement.
“We will continue to coordinate on shared public safety and priorities, including the lawful removal of non-citizen criminals who pose a risk to the public,” Moore said during a ceremony before signing the bill, The Baltimore Sun reported.
“We want ICE to focus on violent criminals and those who cause real harm to our society, as the Trump-Vance administration has promised,” he added.
Moore and other Democrats have accused ICE agents in recent months of breaking the law, citing excessive force and racial discrimination.
Last month, Sen. Chris Van Hollen, D-Md., said ICE needed “significant reform” after recent unrest surrounding it.
“The offenders were ICE agents, not peaceful protesters. So I don’t think we should be funding ICE’s completely lawless operations. It needs major reform. You know, Donald Trump says he’s going to go after the ‘worst of the worst,'” Van Hollen told ABC News’ Jonathan Carr.
“If you look at their own data, 80 percent of the people they arrest nationwide do not pose any threat to the public,” the Maryland senator added. “Instead of solving the problem, they delete the data so we can’t see it.”
Lawmakers in Washington remain at a standstill over funding the agency amid a partial government shutdown of the Department of Homeland Security.
Last week, House Appropriations Committee Ranking Member Rosa DeLauro (D-Conn.) introduced a bill that would fund all agencies under the Department of Homeland Security except ICE, U.S. Customs and Border Protection and the Secretary of State’s Office.
“Immigration and Customs Enforcement cannot be abolished, but I will not provide a dime of funding until we see fundamental changes in how it operates,” DeLauro wrote in a statement. “If Republican leadership blocks the advancement of this legislation, they will be held accountable for any agency closures, furloughed workers, unpaid wages, or reduced services.”
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