Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers and their federal partners, including the ATF, conduct an enhanced enforcement operation in Baltimore Jan. 31. The city is one of 16 jurisdictions in Maryland that do not have 287(g) agreements to work with ICE.(Photo courtesy U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement)
With Maryland’s 2026 legislative session just a few months away, special interests are gearing up to introduce their proposals. Efforts to limit the reach of or to eliminate ICE 287(g) agreements, will find their way to the legislative inbox. These agreements allow local law enforcement to assist ICE in detaining for deportation individuals suspected of being undocumented.
Failure to pass the Maryland Values Act 287(g) provision during the 2025 legislative session, which aimed to terminate the 287(g) program throughout Maryland, raised significant concerns about immigration enforcement in the state. Touting crime prevention as a major factor, supporters like Frederick County Sheriff Chuck Jenkins, Maryland’s leading 287(g) advocate, with the longest running 287(g) agreement in the state, have misled the public…