Immigrants' Rights

Local and state law enforcement agencies that cooperate with federal immigration authorities do so voluntarily, and are one of the primary drivers for immigration enforcement, despite the task of immigration enforcement being a federal responsibility. On the one hand, you have formal agreements, such as a 287(g) agreement, a formal agreement between U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (commonly known as “ICE”), and a local law enforcement agency that deputizes local officers to act as federal ICE agents, and on the other hand, there are informal agreements that automatically share information about individuals arrested and booked in jail through the Secure Communities program. Most law enforcement agencies in Maryland cooperate with ICE in some form, despite the real and devastating human cost to both the individual subject to deportation proceedings, and to their families and their communities.

The ACLU of Maryland uses impact litigation and targeted advocacy in the Maryland State Legislature and in local governmental bodies to protect immigrants from victimization, who are profiled because of the color of their skin, persecuted as an “other” for merely existing in a space that is designated as “American”, and denying them the respect and dignity that every human being deserves.