Hogan says Maryland police will ‘ignore’ new law prohibiting them from working with ICE

 Former Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan (R) on Thursday said local police will “ignore” a new law signed by Gov. Wes Moore (D) that prevents them from working with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).

“Yesterday in my state they just passed a bill, Gov. Moore signed an emergency bill to prohibit local law enforcement from cooperating with ICE. And, you know, all the local law enforcement officers are saying, ‘We’re going to ignore that because we’re required to work with them,’” Hogan said during remarks at Politico Live’s “Governors Summit.” 

“So I get the whole, you know, overreach and overstep and doing the wrong things, but, you know, when they have violent criminals that they’re holding in jail that ICE wants to be detained, they, you know, they shouldn’t be let back on the street. So there’s two sides to this argument,” he added.

Hogan’s comments follow Moore’s decision to ban 287(g) agreements in the state, which allow ICE to deputize local law enforcement officers to carry out immigration enforcement.

“We will continue to coordinate on shared public safety, priorities, including the lawful removal of noncitizen offenders who pose a risk to the public,” Moore said at the ceremony ahead of signing the bill, according to The Baltimore Sun. 

“We want ICE to be focused on violent criminals and people who are doing true harm to our society, as was promised by the Trump-Vance administration,” he added.

Moore and other Democrats have accused ICE agents of breaking the law in recent months, citing an excessive use of force and racial discrimination.

Last month, Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.) said ICE needs “dramatic reform” after recent turmoil surrounding the agency.

“ICE agents are the ones breaking the law, not the peaceful protesters. So, I believe we should not be funding an ICE operation that is completely lawless. It needs dramatic reform. You know, Donald Trump said he was going to go after the, quote, ‘worst of the worst,’” Van Hollen told ABC News’s Jonathan Karl.

“If you look at their own data, 80 percent of the people they’re apprehending around the country posed no public threat whatsoever,” the Maryland senator added. “Instead of addressing that problem, they pulled down the data so we can no longer see it.”

Lawmakers in Washington remain at a standstill over funding the Department of Homeland Security in the midst of a partial government shutdown for the agency.

Last week, House Appropriations Committee ranking member Rosa DeLauro (D-Conn.) introduced a bill that would fund every agency under the Department of Homeland Security except ICE, U.S. Customs and Border Protection and the Office of the Secretary.

“Immigration and Customs Enforcement cannot be abolished, but I will not provide a single dime of funding until we see radical changes in how it operates. If Republican leadership blocks this legislation from moving forward, they are responsible for any shuttered agencies, furloughed workers, missed paychecks, or reduced services,” DeLauro wrote in a statement.

https://thehill.com/homenews/state-watch/5746598-hogan-moore-ice-law-dispute/